RECOLLECTIONS  of 

SIXTY  YEARS  in  the 

SHOE  TRADE 


JOEL  C,  PAGE 


ILLUSTRATED 


! ^ 

<£t^*^£^t^' 


/W  ,  J  <L&££^ 


RECOLLECTIONS 

OF    SIXTY   YEARS   IN  THE 

SHOE   TRADE 


JOEL  C.  PAGE 

Hale,  hearty,  cheerful,  glad-of-life,  Joel  C.  Page  celebrated  his   eighty- 
third  birthday  Monday,  December  20,  1915.      Mr.  Page  is  the  "Grand 
Old  Man"  of  the  shoe  trade's  traveling  fraternity. 
Many  friends  joined  in  offering  to  him,  on  this  most  interesting  and 
happy  occasion,   the  heartiest  of  greetings  and  every  good  wish  for 
continued  blessings  won  by  a  long,  earnest  life  of  usefulness. 
Mr.  Page  was  the  first  to  sell  the  retail  trade  from  samples  on  the  road. 
He  spent  many  years  in  this  service.     His  life  spans  the  whole  era  of 
the  shoe  trade  since  the  first  machine  applied  to  shoemaking. 
We  salute  Joel  C.  Page  as  a  gentleman,  a  man  of  honor  and  finest  stan- 
dard of  integrity,  an  adornment  to  his  profession,  a  friend  and  com- 
patriot of  distinguished  career  and  unsullied  repute.     Long  may  he  wave! 


RECOLLECTIONS 

OF  SIXTY  YEARS  IN 
THE  SHOE  TRADE 


BY  JOEL  C  PAGE 

J  .»» 

The  Pioneer  of  Traveling  Shoe  Salesmen 


PORTRAITS  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 
BY  A  W  GAGE 


Edited  by  ARTHUR  L.  EVANS 


Originally  Published  in  Issues 
of  THE  SHOEMAN 


BOSTON    MASS     USA 

THE  ARTHUR  L  EVANS  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  OF  THE  SHOEMAN 


.//.J>  77  s-7 


Copyrighted,  1916.  by 
ARTHUR  L.  EVANS 


Prtsswork  by 

THE  TUDOR  PRESS 

BOSTON 


P 


re 

7i  ATR.  PAGE'S  "Recollections  of  Sixty  Years  in 
/  yl  the  Shoe  Trade"  were  published  originally  in 
issues  of  THE  SHOEMAN  and  were  widely 
read  by  the  new  and  older  generations  of  the  trade. 

Mr.  Gage's  sketches  of  well-known  traveling  sales- 
men of  this  and  former  trade  eras,  illustrated  with  old- 
time  portraits,  appeared  in  THE  SHOEMAN  sim- 
ultaneously with  Mr.  Page's  recollections.  Many  addi- 
tions to  these  have  been  made  for  this  volume. 

This  book  unites  in  permanent  form  these  interesting 
and  historically  valuable  contributions  to  the  literature 
and  records  of  the  trade. 

Did  space  and  time  permit,  many  more  portraits 
could  and  should  be  added  to  the  collection  —  portraits 
of  men  who  served  well  their  time  and  generation,  earned 
a  warm  place  in  the  memory  of  friends  and  comrades, 
achieved  an  honorable  record  in  the  annals  of  our  trade, 
and  passed,  finally,  over  the  Last  Journey  alone.  But 
alas!  The  portraits  are  not  at  hand.  These  here 
shown  are  typical  of  the  high  quality  and  genial  person- 
ality of  that  band  of  commercial  heralds — the  Pioneers 
of  Progress!  Long  live  the  memory  of  each  and  all. 

ARTHUR  L.  EPANS. 
Boston,  Mass.,  Jan.  i,  1916. 


M86261 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF 
SIXTY   YEARS      - 


I 


I  WAS    born    in    Lancaster,   New  Hampshire, 
December  20,   1832,   and  will,   therefore,  be 
eighty-four  years  old  next  December.     I  am 
thankful  to  say  that  I  still  have  good  health, 
barring  a  bit  of  difficulty  in  walking,  have  a 
clear  mind,  and  enjoy  these  declining  years 
of  my  life,  surrounded  by  comfort  and  many  friends, 
and  living  largely  in  the  recollections  of  these  four 
score  years,  over  sixty  of  which  were  in  the  shoe 
trade. 

My  parents  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Silas  D.  Page, 
and  they  were  good  old  New  England  stock. 

During  these  eighty-three  years  most  wonderful 
changes  have  taken  place  in  our  country,  and  nothing 
more  remarkable  than  in  the  shoe  trade.  I  shall 
have  something  to  tell  about  these  changes  as  my 
story  grows. 

They  tell  me  that  I  was  a  most  successful  baby, 
weighing  eleven  pounds.  I  was  born  (so  they  say) 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  my  father 

11 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

did  not  see  me  until  seven  o'clock.  He  then  came 
into  the  room,  saying,  "I  want  to  see  my  boy." 
Taking  me  in  his  arms,  he  carried  me  to  the  window 
and  pointing  to  the  famous  "Old  man  of  the  moun- 
tain," visible  in  the  distance,  he  said,  "My  son,  I 
want  to  introduce  you  to  the  first  man  in  New 
Hainipst.n'e."  I  was  then  four  hours  old. 

My  father  was  one  of  a  family  of  twelve  children, 
all  of  whom  lived  to  maturity,  and  all  of  whom 
are,  of  course,  now  dead.  I  am  the  very  last  of  the 
name,  and  as  I  have  no  sons,  the  family  name  will 
pass  away  with  me.  My  father's  family  was  one 
of  the  pioneer  families  of  Lancaster,  dating  back 
to  1760. 

When  I  was  two  years  old  my  father  and 
mother  moved  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  where  father 
engaged  in  the  lumber  business.  His  health  was 
poor  and  within  a  year  he  died  suddenly  at  Salis- 
bury, N.  H.,  where  he  had  gone  on  business.  As  an 
evidence  of  the  great  change  that  has  taken  place, 
I  need  only  tell  you  that  a  week  passed  before  my 
mother  learned  of  father's  death.  I  cannot  remem- 
ber him  at  all. 

While  at  Lowell,  I  remember  very  well  seeing 
the  first  train  of  cars  run  into  that  city.  It  was  a 
great  day  for  the  city,  and  everybody  gathered  near 
the  tracks  to  see  the  wonderful  sight.  That  must 
have  been  about  1835,  when  I  was  three  years  old 

12 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

or  thereabouts.  After  my  father's  death  mother 
returned  to  Lancaster  with  me.  I  was  the  only 
child. 

While  living  at  Lancaster,  when  I  was  about 
four  years  old,  I  made  my  first  visit  to  "district 
school."  This  was  at  Hardwick,  Vt.,  near  by  where 
I  was  visiting.  I  was  taken  to  visit  the  school. 
It  was,  of  course,  an  old-fashioned  school,  as  we  judge 
nowadays.  My  recollection  of  that  visit  is  still 
vivid,  chiefly  because  the  teacher,  chancing  to  look 
my  way,  found  me  valiantly  hugging  a  little  red- 
headed girl!  I  wish  I  could  remember  her  name. 
That  was  nearly  eighty  years  ago. 

My  mother  had  some  sisters  and  a  brother  in 
Montpelier,  Vt.  Being  under  the  necessity  of  earn- 
ing her  living,  she  decided  to  remove  thither  and 
open  a  dressmaking  business.  This  she  did  when 
I  was  about  five  years  old.  A  year  and  a  half  later 
mother  married  Abner  B.  Hunt,  and  we  removed 
with  him  to  Warren,  twenty-five  miles  away.  Mr. 
Hunt  was  in  the  cooperage  business. 

In  Montpelier  I  earned  my  first  money.  My 
friends  will  be  amused  when  I  tell  them  that  this 
was  as  a  professional  singer.  I  was  only  a  little 
fellow,  but  I  used  to  go  about  the  streets  singing 
songs  such  as  "Jim  Crow,"  etc.,  and  was  rewarded  by 
receiving  coppers  from  the  bystanders.  I  also  made 
and  sold  molasses  candy.  I  spent  eight  years  in 

13 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

Warren,  going  to  school,  growing  to  boyhood,  and, 
I  suppose,  doing  about  the  same  things  as  all  New 
England  boys  of  that  day. 

In  1844  my  family  moved  to  Randolph,  where  the 
cooper  trade  was  better.  I  was  now  reaching  the 
age  when  I  began  to  be  anxious  to  go  to  work. 
Some  of  my  folks  wanted  me  to  be  a  farmer,  but 
that  didn't  appeal  to  me.  I  wanted  to  be  a  shoe- 
maker from  the  very  start.  My  mother  wanted  me 
to  be  a  printer.  Finally,  I  went  to  Montpelier 
to  learn  the  printing  trade,  and  secured  apprentice 
work  on  the  Montpelier  Vermont  Patriot,  C.  G. 
Eastman,  editor.  I  was  given  a  "case"  and  an 
item  to  "set  up."  But  I  wasn't  cut  out  to  be  a 
printer.  I  think  it  took  me  four  weeks  to  "set" 
that  item,  and  it  wasn't  correct  then.  I  didn't  take 
to  the  business.  My  heart  wasn't  in  it.  I  wanted 
to  be  a  shoemaker. 

In  those  days  there  was  no  shoe  machinery. 
The  shops  made  all  kinds  of  shoes.  In  Mont- 
pelier was  the  shop  of  N.  Harvey,  well  known 
thereabouts  at  that  time.  This  was  about  1846. 

The  shop  was  up-stairs,  and  a  shoe  store  was 
on  the  ground  floor.  The  shop  employed  thirty  or 
forty  men.  Women's  shoes  were  here  made.  To 
the  store  I  came  one  cold  morning.  I  asked  Mr. 
Harvey's  son,  who  was  in  the  room,  for  a  job  as  ap- 
prentice. He  said,  "We  haven't  had  an  apprentice 

14 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

for  ten  years.  I  don't  believe  father  will  take 
you."  Near  by  was  the  foreman,  named  Bickford, 
with  his  feet  up  on  the  stove.  He  seemed  to  like 
me  somehow,  and  went  up-stairs  to  see  if  one  of  the 
boys  would  take  me.  One  of  them  looked  me  over 
and  said,  "I  don't  know  but  I'll  take  you."  The 
next  morning  I  went  to  work.  At  noon  I  went  to 
dinner  with  my  new  boss.  His  wife  didn't  like  it. 
She  stood  it  a  week,  then  made  so  much  fuss  that  my 
boss  told  Mr.  Harvey  about  it,  and  Mr.  Harvey 
said  he'd  take  me  to  his  house. 

Things  went  along  nicely  for  a  spell,  until  I  was 
taken  sick  with  a  fever.  I  had  learned  shoemaking 
rapidly.  I  seemed  fitted  for  it.  I  liked  it.  This 
sickness  seemed  likely  to  put  an  end  to  the  Harvey 
job  anyhow, —  for  nobody  appeared  to  want  a 
young  man  in  the  house  who  was  going  to  have  a 
run  of  fever.  They  even  talked  of  sending  me  to 
Harry  Richardson,  who  would  welcome  me.  But 
when  Mr.  Harvey  had  hitched  up  to  drive  me  there 
his  son  said  that  would  never  do.  So  they  let  me 
stay  that  night  at  Mr.  Harvey's.  The  next  day 
I  felt  better,  and  fortunately  was  soon  ready  for 
work.  Mr.  Harvey  said  when  I  returned,  "I  am 
afraid  you  are  going  to  be  a  sickly  boy  and  I  don't 
believe  I  want  you  here." 

The  foreman,  Ebenezer  Bickford,  had  become 
interested  in  me,  and  at  this  crisis  spoke  up  and 

15 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

said,  "I'll  take  him,  myself."  And  he  did.  He 
took  me  home  to  dinner  —  and  I  kept  going  there. 
I  liked  the  Bickford  family  —  and  eventually  Mr. 
Bickford's  daughter  became  Mrs.  Joel  C.  Page, 
and  she  is  still  with  me,  after  nearly  sixty  years  of 
happy  life  together.  So,  perhaps,  my  sickness 
wasn't  such  bad  luck  after  all.  The  turn  of  our 
lives  hinges  often  on  matters  that  we  don't  under- 
stand as  blessings  at  the  time. 

The  succeeding  year,  under  Mr.  Bickford's 
guiding  care,  I  got  along  finely.  I  was  then  eighteen 
years  old.  My  mother  came  to  Montpelier  about 
this  time  and  arranged  for  me  to  stay  at  Harvey's 
shop  until  I  was  twenty-one.  My  salary  was  340 
a  year!  Times  have  changed,  you  see!  But  I  was 
permitted  to  attend  school  three  months  each  year. 

In  the  shop  I  was  supposed  to  learn  to  make 
everything.  Well,  I  felt  that  I  need  not  learn  to 
make  all  kinds  of  shoes,  so  I  made  a  deal  to  secure 
my  freedom  for  the  balance  of  the  time.  I  paid 
$300  for  this.  Meanwhile,  this  permitted  me  to 
work  along  at  the  bench  as  I  wanted  to. 

One  day  Mr.  Stone  said:  "Wouldn't  you  like  to 
learn  to  cut  shoes?  You  ought  to  learn  to  do  that." 
I  said  that  I  would  like  it.  "If  you'll  pay  a  quart  of 
beer  I'll  see  if  I  can't  get  you  in  to  learn  to  cut," 
said  he.  So  the  deal  was  made  and  I  began  this 
end  of  the  work. 

16 


JOEL  C.  PAGE  AT  TWENTY-TWO 

From  an  old  Daguerreotype 


JOEL  G.  PAGE  AT  SEVENTEEN 

From  an  old  Daguerreotype 


An  old-fashioned  "tintype"  picture  showing  Mr.  Page  sel'ing  shoes  to  a  dealer.  Mr. 
Page  is  the  silk-hatted  gentleman,  standing,  who  looks  Kke  Lincoln.  The  buyer  faces 
him,  and  the  clerk  (whiskers!)  is  in  the  background.  Mr.  Page  calls  this  picture  <:Go 
Get  'Em." 


Mr.  Page  and  family  at  Randolph,  Vt.,  fifty  vears  ago.  Mr.  Page  is  seated  at  the  left. 
His  mother  is  next  to  him,  his  stepfather  in  the  center,  a  guest  next  and  Mrs.  Page  at 
the  right.  The  younger  daughter,  now  Mrs.  E.  W.  Cobb,  is  near  Mr.  Page,  and  the 
elder  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Nellie  Frost,  is  near  Mrs.  Page. 


R  E  C  QLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

During  all  this  time  I  was  employed  at  intervals 
to  wait  on  customers  in  the  store,  which,  as  I  said 
before,  was  on  the  first  floor  of  the  shop.  Then  for 
three  years  I  was  constantly  occupied  in  clerking. 
So  you  see  I  have  been  a  regular  retail  clerk.  I 
learned  all  I  could  about  the  selling  of  shoes,  and  it 
was  a  valuable  experience.  They  told  me  that  I  was 
a  very  successful  clerk.  I  kept  the  stock  shipshape, 
knew  where  every  pair  of  every  kind  was  and  exactly 
the  condition  of  the  stock. 

The  Harvey  shop  made  three  kinds  of  buskins 
at  that  time  —  welts,  turns  and  spring  heels.  Mr. 
Harvey  had  a  regular  route  of  customers.  When  a 
certain  amount  of  shoes  were  made  he  would  hitch 
up  and  drive  around  the  country  to  the  various  towns 
and  sell  the  shoes  to  the  local  stores. 


II 

Of  course  I  got  the  Boston  fever.  Every  New 
England  boy  in  those  days  had  one  big  ambition  —  to 
visit  Boston.  I  guess  this  is  so  to-day,  too.  In  the 
summer  of  1852  I  told  my  boss  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  to  try  my  luck  in  Boston.  He  was  kind  enough 
to  say  he  was  sorry  to  have  me  go,  and  gave  me 
several  letters  of  introduction  and  recommendation 
to  Boston  folks. 


19 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

I  reached  Boston  on  a  Saturday  night  and  went 
to  the  home  of  an  uncle  of -mine  for  over  Sunday. 
Monday  morning  I  came  down-town,  and  saw  a 
boyhood  acquaintance  who  was  employed  in  a  butter 
and  cheese  store.  He  told  me  of  an  opportunity 
with  a  shoe  house  —  James  A.  Estabrook,  who  had  a 
retail  store  on  one  corner,  and  a  jobbing  house  on 
the  other  —  that  was  at  the  corner  of  North  Street 
and  Merchants  Row.  That  was  then  the  heart  of 
the  shoe  district.  It  had  not  moved  to  the  Lincoln 
and  South  streets  sections,  as  is  now  the  case. 

Mr.  Estabrook  told  me  to  come  to  work  the  next 
day.  I  did  so,  and  thus  began  the  second  part  of 
my  business  life.  The  Vermont  days  were  over. 
Through  life  I  have  always  retained  a  great  affection 
for  the  scenes  of  my  birth  and  boyhood. 

My  job  was  in  the  wholesale  department  of  the 
business,  located  on  the  second  floor,  across  the 
street  from  the  retail  store.  I  went  in  as  the  youngest 
of  the  force.  My  salary  was  $7  a  week,  considered 
good  wages  at  that  time,  sixty  years  ago.  My 
board  and  room  cost  33  a  week.  The  understanding 
was  that  I  should  have  a  raise  at  the  end  of  six 
months  if  my  work  was  satisfactory.  I  guess  it  must 
have  been,  for  I  was  raised  to  $11  a  week  when  the 
time  came. 

My  work  was  that  of  a  salesman  and  porter. 
Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  first  six  months  I  began 

20 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

to  assist  in  the  buying  and  soon  was  entrusted  with 
this  important  end  of  the  business  to  a  large  extent. 

The  customers  upon  whom  I  waited  at  this  time 
came  from  all  over  New  England.  Mostly  they 
were  general  store-keepers,  a  bit  like  one  sees  in  little 
country  towns  at  the  present  time,  selling  something 
of  everything. 

The  salesman  would  go  around  to  the  different 
hotels,  hunting  up  customers  —  the  Quincy,  Ameri- 
can and  Central  hotels  were  the  places  where  the 
dealers  mostly  stopped.  He  would  see  them  in  the 
morning  and  make  dates  for  the  afternoon.  I  did 
the  same  thing  frequently,  and  often  entertained  the 
dealers  for  dinner  and  theater  in  the  evening.  You 
see  the  same  principles  practised  right  here  in  Boston 
to  this  day;  the  methods  only  have  changed. 

Dealers  then  would  pick  out  the  exact  goods 
they  wanted,  handling  every  pair,  often.  Goods 
were  not  sold  from  sample,  remember.  Of  course, 
immediate  shipment  was  made. 

One  forenoon  a  man  came  in  and  wanted  a  case 
of  a  certain  kind  of  calkskin  boots.  We  were  sold 
out  on  that  style,  but  expected  some  of  these  and  I 
told  him  to  come  back  at  two  o'clock  and  I  would 
have  some.  Half  an  hour  before  the  time  set,  our 
expected  goods  had  not  yet  arrived.  Growing 
anxious,  I  went  to  S.  G.  Damon's  on  Hanover 
Street  —  I  knew  he  had  some  of  these  boots  —  and 


21 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

as  Mr.  Estabrook  and  Mr.  Damon  occasionally 
exchanged  goods,  I  hoped  to  secure  a  case  of  Nash's 
boots  —  this  particular  kind  was  made  by  Mr.  Nash 
of  Weymouth.  Fortunately  Mr.  Damon  could 
accommodate.  Not  waiting  for  a  wagon,  I  shoul- 
dered the  case  and  carried  it  to  Estabrook's.  My 
customer  happened  to  see  me  carrying  the  case. 
About  two  o'clock  he  came  in,  and  made  his  pur- 
chase. Afterwards  he  complimented  me  to  Mr. 
Estabrook  for  this  display  of  enterprise. 

Goods  were  bought  by  the  jobber  on  six  months' 
credit  those  days,  and  sold  on  four  and  six  months'  time. 

Some  ideas  of  prices  and  styles  then  prevailing 
may  be  interesting  now. 

A  side-lace  cloth  gaiter  sold  for  $1  to  31-50. 
Congress  goring  came  in  soon.  Women's  congress 
were  sold  as  well  as  men's.  Colored  goods  sold  from  90 
cents  to  $1 .50.  A  patent  leather  foxed  boot  was  popu- 
lar then.  There  was  no  japanned  leather  then.  Bright 
goat  was  used  for  pegged  boots.  Jenny  Lind,  the 
famous  singer,  had  been  here  about  that  time,  and 
a  boot  named  for  her  was  very  popular.  This  was 
a  bal.,  of  a  bit  higher  cut  than  usual,  with  gusset 
or  goring,  no  seam,  only  in  back.  Button  shoes  had 
not  yet  come  in.  Some  calfskin  bals.  were  sold. 
Grain  leather  was  much  in  use.  Women's,  misses' 
and  children's  shoes  were  of  the  pegged  variety,  as 
well  as  men's. 

22 


In  current  bttlrf^WRmisrWetired  with  our  cUeoks 
in  sums  of  even  dollars 


Vt,    -es/I^U*.     /,     </$$&..    V 


bills,  whenBented  with  our  c 
in.  sum  a  ol^v&a.  dollars. 


t|< 


*4 


o 


Here  is  reproduced,  full  size,  the  "script"  or  "  fractionalcurrency  "used  by 
Mr.  Page  in  1862,  when  the  Civil  War  rendered  specie  almost  valueless. 
Mr.  Page  was  the  first  man  in  America  to  use  "fractional  currency." 
It  was  his  idea  and  later  came  into  general  use. 


BY-LAWS 


8801  tf  stoe  TUBBIER'  leas 


Fac-simile,  reduced  in  size,  of  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the 
first  association  of  traveling  shoe  salesmen  —  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Trav- 
elers' League,  founded  in  Boston,  April  10,  1885;  membership  about 
two  hundred. 

Joel  C.  Page  was  the  second  president  of  the  League.  E.  F.  Sawyer 
was  first  president. 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 


Turn  shoes  were  about  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
the  output,  welts  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  and 
pegged  about  fifty  per  cent.  Oak  sole  leather  was 
much  used.  Heels  in  pegged  shoes  were  nearly  all 
of  the  spring  variety.  Turns  were  made  plain  heels, 
not  spring.  Calf  bootees  were  made  with  low  heels. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  heels  anywhere  near  as  high 
as  is  common  nowadays  came  into  use.  Slippers 
were  made  of  kid,  and  sold  from  50  and  75  cents 
to  £1.00. 

The  calf  boots  we  carried  were  mostly  made  at 
Weymouth.  They  were  packed  in  long  boxes  with 
the  leg-tops  standing.  There  were  no  such  things 
as  cartons  at  that  time. 

Our  women's  turn  shoes  came  mostly  from  Lynn. 
The  pegged  shoes  were  made  in  Stoneham.  Kip 
boots  were  made  in  Milford.  Farmers'  boots  were  of 
kip,  that  is,  light  cowhide,  with  half-double  sole, 
pegged.  These  cost  us  from  $28  to  $33  a  twelve-pair 
case.  Men's  brogans  were  of  grain,  goat  and  kip, 
lower  pattern,  lace.  B.  E.  Cole  manufactured  kip 
boots  those  days.  I  used  to  go  to  his  loft,  pick  out 
ten  or  twelve  cases,  open  them  all  up,  and  look  care- 
fully over  every  pair.  I  recollect  the  firms  of  Nash 
&  Co.,  Weymouth,  Vining  &  Ingalls,  Lynn,  Sprague 
&  Co.,  Stoneham,  Z.  Graves  &  Brother,  and  many 
others. 

25 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

III 

I  went  to  Estabrook's  in  July.  When  Christmas 
came  I  wanted  to  make  a  visit  home.  Mr.  Esta- 
brook  consented.  I  suggested  to  him  that  as  I  had 
been  in  Nehemiah  Harvey's,  a  retail  shoe  store  at 
Montpelier,  three  or  four  years  and  knew  something 
about  the  kind  of  goods  needed  there,  I  believed  we 
had  some  shoes  that  Mr.  Harvey  could  use  to  good 
advantage,  and  that  I  would  like  to  take  some 
samples  home  and  show  Mr.  Harvey.  "Do  you 
think  he  would  buy  any  that  way?"  said  Mr.  Esta- 
brook.  "Yes,  I  think  so,"  said  I.  "Take  anything 
you  want  and  I'll  give  you  half  the  profit  made  on 
anything  you  sell,"  said  he.  So  I  took  a  few  single 
samples  with  me.  After  the  holiday,  I  called  on 
Mr.  Harvey.  After  talking  socially  awhile  I  said, 
"I  have  some  goods  I  think  you  could  use."  He 
said,  "Well,  boy,  you  ought  to  know."  I  opened  my 
valise  and  took  out  a  sample.  Mr.  Harvey  was  very 
tall  and  stately.  I  can  see  him  now  as  he  straight- 
ened up  and  said,  "Joel,  isn't  this  something  new 
to  sell  shoes  by  showing  one  shoe?"  "Yes,"  said  I, 
"but  I  thought  as  I  was  coming  up  for  Christmas 
I  might  as  well  bring  along  ten  or  twelve  and  show 
you."  "Well,  well,  I'll  look  at  them,"  said  Mr. 
Harvey.  "If  they  are  just  what  I  want  can  you 
get  them  to  me  right  away?"  I  told  him  that  we 

26 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

could.  He  looked  over  the  samples  and  selected 
$180  worth  from  these.  I  was  much  pleased, —  the 
profit  paid  my  expenses  home. 

Thus  was  consummated  what  I  believe  was  the 
first  sale  to  a  retail  shoe  store  from  sample.  This 
was  late  December,  1852,  when  I  was  twenty  years 
old.  The  order  consisted  of  women's,  misses'  and 
children's  pegged  shoes  and  bootees.  I  had  no  men's 
samples  with  me. 

Emboldened  by  this  good  luck,  I  tried  the  same 
thing  on  three  or  four  others  in  Montpelier.  They 
never  did  such  a  thing  before,  never  heard  of  such  a 
thing,  they  said,  but  three  of  them  gave  me  orders. 

When  I  returned  to  Boston  Mr.  Estabrook, 
much  pleased  at  the  success  of  my  Montpelier 
efforts,  advanced  me  to  $11  a  week,  and  said  that  it 
might  pay  to  go  up  again  in  the  summer. 

During  the  first  six  months  of  my  employment 
at  $7  a  week  I  had  saved  $75,  which  I  took  home  at 
Christmas. 

The  Massachusetts  Central  Railroad  was  being 
built  at  that  time.  It  had  gone  as  far  as  Blackstone. 
At  that  place  was  quite  a  railroad  workers'  settle- 
ment. Here  an  Irishman  kept  a  boarding  house. 
He  saved  his  money.  One  day  he  came  in  to  look 
over  some  of  our  shoes,  saying  he  believed  he  could 
make  some  money  selling  his  boarders  their  shoes. 
After  looking  the  stock  over  for  awhile,  he  said  he 

27 


RECOLLECTIONS     OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

thought  he'd  look  around  a  bit,  and  if  he  found 
nothing  that  suited  him  better  he  would  come  back. 
Sure  enough,  back  he  came,  and  I  sold  him  quite 
an  order.  He  asked  for  his  bill  when  he  had  com- 
pleted his  purchase.  I  gave  it  to  him  —  he  paid  it, 
3885,  out  of  a  bag  of  gold  he  carried.  I  put  the  gold 
in  the  safe  —  it  was  after  the  bookkeeper  had  gone 
for  the  day.  When  Mr.  Estabrook  returned  and 
learned  of  this  unusual  transaction  he  was  greatly 
pleased,  I  recollect. 

Mr.  Estabrook  went  to  California  five  or  six 
years  later,  and,  I  believe,  died  out  there. 

Among  the  boys  at  Estabrook's  was  one  named 
Lincoln,  whom  I  grew  to  know  very  well.  He  later 
became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  famous  wholesale 
house  of  Bachelder  &  Lincoln.  Mr.  Bachelder  was 
then  with  a  concern  opposite  Faneuil  Hall  Market. 


IV 

In  the  previous  recital  of  the  events  of  my  life 
I  had  covered  the  years  up  to  about  1855,  when  I 
was  with  James  A.  Estabrook. 

At  that  time,  as  now,  shoe  manufacturers  had 
Boston  offices,  but  there  was  this  difference  —  now 
only  samples  are  shown  in  the  Boston  offices,  whereas 
then  the  actual  shoes  were  carried.  The  offices  were 

28 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

really  stockrooms.  We  used  to  look  over  the  goods, 
select  what  we  wanted  and  have  the  goods  shipped 
at  once.  Most  of  the  Boston  offices  were  on  Pearl 
Street.  Kilby  Street,  now  given  over  to  insurance, 
was  also  quite  a  shoe  district.  The  adjacent  streets 
had  some  shoe  offices,  of  course. 

The  Quincy  House  and  the  American  House 
were  great  headquarters  for  the  shoe  men  at  that  time. 

Wednesdays  and  Saturdays  were  the  great  trade 
days  then,  and  this  custom  has  continued  ever  since. 

Gilmore  &  Cole  was  one  of  the  well-known  shoe 
manufacturing  houses  with  Boston  offices  in  those 
days. 

The  leather  men  held  forth  a  bit  farther  north, 
down  in  the  "North  End,"  north  of  Merchants  Row 
and  the  old  market.  Reynolds  &  Wait  was  one  of 
the  kid  leather  houses  of  that  day.  Lee  Claflin  &  Co. 
were  prominent  in  sole  leather  dealing.  A.  L. 
White  handled  sole  and  upper  leather,  and  imported 
calfskin. 

I  remember  once  that  a  manufacturer  friend  of 
mine  in  Vermont  asked  me  to  buy  for  him  a  ton  of 
sole  leather.  I  had  never  bought  any  leather,  but 
I  went  out  and  looked  around,  and  finally  went  into 
the  store  of  Lee  Claflin  &  Co.,  looked  over  their 
goods  and  bought  what  my  friend  wanted.  So  you 
see,  I  added  the  science  of  leather  buying  to  my 
experience  at  that  early  date. 

29 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

About  this  time  my  acquaintance  with  a  Ver- 
mont man,  Horace  Herrick,  who  came  from  my 
home  town,  Montpelier,  led  to  a  change  in  my 
affairs.  Mr.  Herrick  had  been  a  schoolteacher  and 
preacher  in  Vermont.  Failing  eyesight  compelled 
him  to  give  up  preaching,  and  he  came  to  Boston  to 
sell  the  first  wax  thread  sewing  machine  ever  made. 
The  agent  for  this  machine  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Mr.  Herrick,  Elmer  Townsend,  then  one  of  the  best- 
known  auction  shoe  men  in  Boston,  a  member  of  the 
influential  firm  of  Townsend,  Mallard  &  Cowing. 

Mr.  Herrick  came  to  me  one  day  and  asked  me 
how  I  would  like  to  buy  out  the  store  of  Nehemiah 
Harvey,  at  Montpelier,  where  I  had  formerly  been 
employed.  Mr.  Harvey  had  sold  the  business,  but 
the  purchasers  were  anxious  to  sell  out.  I  knew 
everybody  in  Montpelier,  and  knew  also  that  this 
fifty-year-old  business  was  sound,  and  with  good 
management  would  be  profitable.  So  I  said  I  would 
be  glad  to  go  back  to  Montpelier  in  this  way.  I 
didn't  have  much  money,  but  through  Mr.  Herrick 
and  Mr.  Townsend,  this  was  no  hindrance,  and  the 
deal  was  made. 

In  the  middle  of  March,   1856,  I  found  myself 
back  in  Montpelier,  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Herrick 
&  Page,  shoe  retailers,  manufacturers  and  jobbers  - 
in  the  very  store  where  a  few  years  before  I  had 
begun  to  learn  the  business,  a  young,  friendless  boy. 

30 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

We  employed  twenty-five  or  thirty  shoemakers 
and  produced  women's  turns  and  welt  buskins,  and 
boots  and  other  kinds  of  custom  work,  doing  quite 
a  business  in  the  near-by  territory. 

I  should  mention  in  passing  that  ever  since  Decem- 
ber, 1852,  when  I  took  the  first  order  ever  taken  from 
sample  shown  to  a  dealer,  I  had  annually  gone  out 
with  samples  and  sold  shoes  to  dealers  that  way. 

This  work  of  traveling  salesmanship  I  kept  up 
after  entering  business  for  myself,  covering  parts  of 
New  England  and  New  York  with  our  own  shoes, 
and  also  a  line  of  rubbers  I  secured  from  Jonathan 
Pierce,  agent  for  the  Haywood  Rubber  Company. 

We  bought  our  shoes  from  manufacturers  and 
jobbers  who  treated  us  very  well  in  the  matter  of 
credit.  Some  of  the  jobbing  houses  of  that  day  were : 
Henry  L.  Daggett,  George  L.  Thayer,  John  H. 
Rogers,  C.  &  M.  Cox,  Amos  Tapley  and  J.  Ireson  & 
Son.  At  that  time  Blanchard  &  Groce  were  manu- 
facturing men's  shoes  at  East  Abington,  now  Rock- 
land.  Daniel  S.  Howard  and  Howard  &  Washburn 
were  prominent  pioneer  manufacturers  in  North 
Bridgewater,  now  Brockton. 

Mr.  Herrick  was  not  a  shoe  man,  but  worked 
in  the  store,  on  the  books,  etc. 

And  now  I  must  digress  for  a  moment  and  make 
mention  of  a  happy  event  in  my  life  —  my  marriage. 

31 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

\% 

I  was  married,  September  15,  1855,  to  Miss  Addie 
L.  Bickford  of  Montpelier,  daughter  of  Ebenezer 
Bickford,  who  taught  me  the  business  whenl  first 
started  in  at  Montpelier,  nearly  ten  years  before. 
I  came  up  to  Montpelier  Saturday  night  and  we  were 
married  Sunday  evening,  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  by  the  Rev.  Alonzo  Webster.  We  had  both 
sung  in  the  choir  for  several  years.  Sunday  morning 
we  took  our  places  in  the  choir  as  usual.  That  even- 
ing our  marriage  was  solemnized  at  the  beginning  of 
the  evening  services,  and  when  the  nuptial  knot  was 
tied  we  took  our  places  in  the  choir  as  usual,  and 
doubtless  sang  with  a  great  spirit  of  happiness. 

That  was  fifty-nine  years  ago  last  September, 
and  we  are  both  grateful  to  Divine  Providence  for 
these  long  years  of  wedded  happiness.  Mrs.  Page 
and  I  have  journeyed  down  the  years  together,  far 
past  the  usual  time  given  to  us  here,  and  are  to-day 
enjoying  fair  health  and  the  fullness  of  memory  of 
these  many  happy  years  together.  v 

We  came  immediately  to  Boston,  and  lived  there 
until  the  following  March,  when,  on  the  purchase 
of  the  Montpelier  business,  we  made  our  home  there. 


In  March  1857,  I  was  in  Boston  on  business,  and 
met  Jonathan  Pierce.     Said  Mr.  Pierce,  "Joel,  there 

32 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

is  a  new  machine  coming  out  that  I  want  you  to  see 
and  give  me  your  opinion  on.  I  have  been  asked  to 
invest  in  the  company  back  of  the  machine,  and  I'd 
like  your  views  as  to  whether  it  is  practical  or  not." 

We  climbed  four  flights  of  stairs  to  a  room  in  a 
building  at  the  head  of  Pearl  Street,  and  there  I 
beheld  the  first  McKay  sewing  machine. 

I  looked  it  over.  They  sewed  a  few  samples  on  it 
for  me.  Said  I,  "If  you  will  make  two  changes  in 
this  machine  and  make  them  right,  it  will  revolu- 
tionize shoe  manufacturing." 

The  two  changes  were  these:  A  smaller  needle 
must  be  used  and  the  thread  must  be  thoroughly 
waxed.  This  was  necessary  to  insure  against 
ripping.  The  sewing  must  be  as  tight  as  hand- 
sewing. 

They  experimented  along  these  lines  and  made 
the  changes,  and  we  all  know  what  a  success  the 
McKay  process  has  been.  Mr.  Pierce  bought  some 
of  the  stock. 

My  business  life  in  Montpelier  lasted  until  1864, 
when  I  sold  out  to  Calvin  Fullerton  and  brother,  two 
young  men  who  had  been  in  my  employ.  I  had 
bought  out  Mr.  Herrick  in  1862. 

When  I  was  in  the  retail  shoe  business  in  Mont- 
pelier, Vt.,  in  1862,  the  Civil  War  was  well  under  way. 
Specie  was  worth  twenty  per  cent  premium,  and  we 

33 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

had  to  depend  on  postage  stamps  to  make  change. 
On  ordinary  days  we  storekeepers  got  along  very 
well,  but  I  recollect  election  day  that  year  as  a  serious 
problem  for  us.  The  voters  would  come  to  town 
that  day  in  large  numbers,  and  it  meant  a  big  day's 
business  for  us. 

Mr.  Ellis,  a  dry  goods  merchant  in  Montpelier, 
came  to  me  and  asked  what  we  would  do  for  change. 
I  asked  him  if  we  couldn't  use  postage  stamps  as 
usual.  He  said  that  we  couldn't  get  any  more  from 
the  post  office.  "What  will  we  do?"  says  he. 
"Well,"  said  I,  "maybe  we  can  issue  fractional 
currency  on  our  own  account.  Let's  go  to  the  bank 
and  see." 

The  banker  couldn't  do  a  thing  for  us  —  the  law 
prevented  him  from  assisting  us.  But  he  said  he 
would  do  this  —  he  would  honor  our  personal  checks, 
if  drawn  on  the  bank  in  fractional  denominations  of 
five  cents,  ten  cents,  twenty  cents,  fifty  cents,  etc., 
if  presented  in  quantities  of  even  dollars.  This  was 
my  plan. 

I  went  to  the  printer  and  had  printed  the  checks 
illustrated  elsewhere,  just  as  soon  as  he  could  get 
them  out.  I  got  about  $50  worth. 

The  next  day  was  election  day.  The  first  thing  in 
the  morning  a  man  came  in  and  bought  a  pair  of  shoes 
for  $1 .50,  and  offered  a  $2  bill  in  payment.  I  tendered 
him  in  change  one  of  my  "fractional  currency" 

34 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

checks,  and  after  explanations  to  him,  he  readily 
took  it  the  same  as  money.  The  whole  350  worth 
were  gone  by  noon.  That  night  I  had  $50  worth 
more  printed,  and  soon  the  idea  was  in  general  use 
in  Montpelier,  and  in  fact  throughout  the  state  and 
elsewhere;  and  later  the  United  States  government 
got  out  fractional  currency  of  its  own. 

I  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  "fractional  cur- 
rency," and  believe  that  I  was  the  very  first  to  issue 
this  form  of  small  money  for  convenience  sake  and 
use  during  that  trying  time. 

VI 

A  matter  of  interest  at  that  time,  in  which  I  had 
a  part,  was  a  change  in  the  arctic  overshoe  style  of 
the  period. 

Thomas  C.  Wales  was  agent  for  a  rubber  com- 
pany that  made  a  rubber  overshoe  with  a  cloth  top 
that  laced  up  the  front  —  a  clumsy  affair,  red  wool 
lined.  Oldtimers  will  remember  this  overshoe.  The 
common  overshoe  of  the  time  was  a  calfskin  with 
hair  on  —  I  sold  this  sort. 

A  friend  of  mine  in  Montreal  sent  me  a  pair  of 
overshoes,  practically  a  fac-simile  of  the  present-day 
cut  and  style,  good-looking,  easily  adjusted,  buckled. 
I  went  to  Montreal,  bought  five  cases,  twenty-four 
pairs  to  the  case.  I  went  to  Boston,  putting  a  pair 

35 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

of  the  new-fangled  overshoes  in  my  carpet  bag.  I 
saw  John  H.  Rogers  and  showed  them  to  him.  He 
was  much  pleased  and  asked  me  to  send  him  a  case. 
When  he  got  the  case  he  showed  a  pair  to  Mr.  Wales, 
who  bought  them,  took  them  to  his  factory,  and 
copied  the  pattern  and  idea. 

This  was  the  first  arctic  overshoe,  about  as  we  know 
them  to-day,  and  I  was  the  first  to  bring  this  into 
America.  This  was  about  1857.  This  style  has 
remained,  with  improvements  of  course,  in  general 
use  ever  since. 

In  1864  I  sold  out  my  Montpelier  retail  business 
to  Calvin  Fullerton  &  Brother,  intending  to  go  South 
and  engage  in  business.  Ben  Butler's  affairs  in 
Louisiana  at  that  time  made  this  inadvisable,  so  I 
had  to  give  up  that  idea. 

For  a  season  I  sold  a  rubber  sole  shoe,  made  by 
the  Heywood  Rubber  Company,  Maiden.  This  was 
a  rubber  sole  nailed  onto  a  regular  leather  boot.  The 
idea  seemed  good,  but  after  being  out  with  it  for 
three  or  four  months,  and  the  shoes  not  coming 
right,  I  gave  up  the  effort  and  went  on  the  road  with 
Holbrook,  Hobart  &  Porter,  who  made  men's  calf 
boots.  They  put  in  a  line  of  shoes  to  job,  but  didn't 
know  the  jobbing  business.  They  had  a  chance  to 
sell  out  at  the  close  of  the  war  to  Jackson,  Richards 
£  Haven.  Mr.  Jackson  had  made  money  in  Canada 

36 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

during  the  war.  Mr.  Richards  was  a  brother  of 
Mr.  Richards  of  the  firm  of  Edwards,  Richards  & 
Nichols,  Boston  dry-goods  merchants.  Mr.  Haven 
had  worked  for  Henry  L.  Daggett,  then  a  prominent 
shoe  jobber. 

Jackson,  Richards  &  Haven  hired  myself  and 
one  other  salesman.  I  worked  three  years  for  them; 
traveling  through  New  York  State,  Troy,  Utica, 
Syracuse,  Auburn  and  Rochester  to  Buffalo. 


VII 

One  man  that  I  sold  largely  on  these  trips  was 
John  L.  Dodge,  who  had  a  retail  shoe  store  in  Troy. 
He  was  the  father  of  Harry  D.  Dodge  and  Chandler 
Dodge,  now  prominent  shoe  manufacturers  in 
Newburyport.  He  was  also  a  brother  of  Nathan 
D.  Dodge,  Elisha  P.  Dodge  and  Moses  Dodge,  all 
of  whom  became  successful  and  prominent  shoe 
manufacturers  in  later  years.. 

E.  P.  Dodge  learned  to  cut  shoes,  and  went  to 
Lynn  and  began  to  manufacture  cacks,  going  to 
Newburyport  in  1869  to  make  women's  shoes  for 
the  retail  trade.  He  became  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful shoe  manufacturers  in  the  country,  making 
women's  shoes.  He  died  about  ten  years  ago. 

Mr.  Dodge  began  to  come  along  nicely,  but 
needed  a  salesman  who  knew  how  shoes  ought  to  be 

37 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

made  as  well  as  to  sell  them  properly.  John  L. 
Dodge  told  E.  P.  that  they  ought  to  hire  Joel  Page. 
He  sent  for  me  to  come  to  see  them.  This  was  in 
the  fall  of  1869.  Nathan  D.  Dodge  had  also  started 
to  manufacture  misses'  and  children's  shoes  in 
Newburyport,  and  wanted  to  sell  his  output  along 
with  E.  P.  Dodge's.  Said  E.  P.  Dodge  to  me:  "We 
don't  know  exactly  what  the  trade  wants;  John  L. 
says  you  can  tell  us.  What  will  you  work  for  us 
for?"  I  named  my  price  —  32,000  and  expenses. 
A  Mr.  Balch,  who  was  identified  with  Mr.  Dodge 
in  the  venture,  said  they  couldn't  pay  that  much. 
"Why,"  said  he,  "we  don't  have  to  pay  over  $15  a 
week  for  our  best  cutters."  He  was  scared. 

E.  P.  asked  me  to  wait  a  week  before  decision. 
They  wrote  to  John  L.  He  told  them  the  price 
ought  not  to  make  any  difference,  and  to  hire  me 
at  once. 

So  they  wrote  me  to  come  on  again.  I  did  so. 
"How  many  shoes  can  you  sell?"  they  asked  me. 
It  was  a  new  thing,  this  idea  of  selling  the  trade 
direct  from  the  factory.  The  jobbers  had  heretofore 
handled  that  end  of  the  business.  I  had  sold 
375,000  for  my  house,  a  jobbing  concern,  Jackson, 
Richards  &  Haven.  In  answer  to  the  question  I 
said:  "I  don't  know."  "Will  you  agree  to  sell 
350,000  for  us  the  first  year?"  they  asked.  "No,  I 
won't  agree  to  that.  I'll  do  the  best  I  can."  "Well," 

38 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

said  E.  P.  Dodge,  "John  says  to  hire  you.  We'll 
try  it.  It  can't  more  than  ruin  us  in  one  year." 

So  I  went  to  work  for  E.  P.  Dodge  &  Co.  I 
stayed  around  two  or  three  weeks  and  helped  get 
out  the  line  of  samples  I  wanted. 

I  had  twenty-five  samples  of  E.  P.  Dodge's 
shoes  and  thirty-five  samples  of  Nathan  D.  Dodge's. 
I  was  to  carry  both  lines. 

In  February,  1870,  I  started  out.  I  worked 
from  Troy  to  Buffalo,  then  by  the  "Lake  Shore," 
to  Cleveland,  Toledo,  Detroit,  Kalamazoo  and 
Chicago.  I  was  out  eight  or  nine  weeks,  and  made 
a  good  success  of  the  trip.  My  houses  were  much 
pleased  with  results. 

In  June,  1870,  I  made  another  trip  as  far  as 
Chicago,  and  two  more  trips  in  the  fall.  When 
January  1,  1871,  came  around  I  was  pleased  to  learn 
that  my  sales  had  totalled  £125,000.  Mr.  Dodge 
asked  me  if  I  didn't  want  more  money,  and  I  re- 
ceived an  advance  of  $500  a  year  right  away.  I 
sold  as  high  as  $160,000  a  year  during  the  next  three 
years,  and  had  my  salary  substantially  advanced 
twice. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  three  years'  service  my 
contract  called  for,  in  1872,  we  were  unable  to  come 
to  terms  for  another  period,  and  our  connection  was 
mutually  severed.  I  took  out  a  line  very  similar  to 
Dodge's,  on  commission.  That  was  the  year  of  the 

39 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY     YEARS 

big  fire  in  Chicago,  where  I  had  a  large  trade.  I 
held  a  good  percentage  of  my  regular  trade,  with 
the  new  lines  I  carried. 

John  L.  Dodge  sold  his  Troy  business  and  went 
to  Newburyport  late  in  the  '70's,  and  worked  for 
E.  P.  Dodge.  He  was  anxious  to  have  me  back 
again,  and  sent  for  me  to  come  down  and  talk  it  over. 
I  went  down  and  told  them  I  couldn't  come  with 
them  for  another  year,  and  said  that  at  the  end  of  the 
year  I  would  talk.  This  was  about  1877,  and  in  the 
mean  time  I  had  been  selling  shoes  on  commission 
through  my  old  territory. 

When  a  year  passed  by  I  again  engaged  with  the 
Dodge  interests,  and  when  1880  came  along,  I  was 
again  selling  my  old  line  in  my  old  territory,  to  which 
St.  Louis  had  been  added. 

When  I  sold  out  my  retail  shoe  business  in 
Montpelier  I  came  to  Boston  to  engage  in  business, 
but  made  my  home  in  Cambridge,  across  the  Charles. 
Here  for  three  years  was  my  home.  My  family 
consisted  of  Mrs.  Page  and  myself  and  our  two 
young  daughters,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the 
little  family  circle  has  been  unbroken  all  these  many 
years.  One  of  my  daughters  is  Mrs.  Elisha  W. 
Cobb,  wife  of  the  former  president  of  the  Boston 
Boot  and  Shoe  Club,  and  a  member  of  the 
leather  firm  of  Beggs  &  Cobb. 

40 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

After  three  years'  residence  in  Cambridge  we 
moved  to  Boston,  where  we  bought  a  house  on  West 
Canton  Street,  and  made  our  home  there  for  eight 
or  nine  years.  About  1877  we  traded  our  West 
Canton  Street  home  for  a  house  in  Melrose,  at 
136  Vinton  Street,  and  there  we  have  ever  since 
resided. 

During  these  nearly  forty  years  of  life  in  Melrose 
I  have  been  identified  with  the  public  affairs  of  that 
city,  in  some  measure.  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Republican  town  committee  for  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years,  and  was  a  delegate  to  Republican  state  con- 
ventions many  times,  and  twice  was  a  delegate  to  the 
national  convention  of  Republican  clubs,  once  in 
Cincinnati  and  once  in  Cleveland.  I  have  been  a 
member  of  the  Melrose  Lodge  of  Masons  for  many 
years,  also  the  Chapter  and  Hugh  de  Payne  Com- 
mandery.  Am  also  a  member  of  the  Melrose  Club, 
the  Home  Market  Club,  and  the  Middlesex  Club. 
For  fifteen  years  I  was  on  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
First  M.  E.  Church  in  Melrose,  and  for  six  years 
chairman.  In  1904  I  was  elected  an  alderman  of  the 
city  of  Melrose  and  served  four  years  in  this  capacity, 
one  term  being  alderman-at-large. 

I  am  proud  to  record  that  I  voted  for  John 
C.  Fremont,  the  first  Republican  candidate  for 
president,  in  1856,  and  have  voted  the  Repub- 
lican ticket  ever  since. 


41 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

As  this  is  written  about  Lincoln's  birthday,  I  am 
reminded  of  the  day  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  shot. 
I  was  in  Cincinnati  at  the  time,  and  was  in  the  store 
of  J.  M.  Potter  when  the  news  came  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  been  shot.  Mr.  Potter  was  the  first  to 
tell  me.  It  created  tremendous  excitement,  and 
everywhere  were  evidences  of  grief  and  mourning.  I 
do  not  recollect  ever  knowing  the  nation  more  filled 
with  sorrow  than  this  sad  event  brought. 


But  to  get  back  to  shoe-talk.  In  1879  I  returned 
to  road  service  with  E.  P.  Dodge,  and  traveled  my 
old  territory  —  New  York,  part  of  Pennsylvania, 
large  cities  in  Ohio  and  Michigan  and  Illinois,  in- 
cluding Chicago.  I  also  made  St.  Louis  and  other 
sizable  towns  down  that  way,  as  St.  Joseph,  Joplin, 
Springfield  and  Kansas  City,  and  stopped  at  some 
other  cities  on  the  way  back  to  Boston.  I  never 
made  many  of  the  small  towns  in  my  travels,  but 
visited,  year  after  year,  the  larger  cities  in  the  terri- 
tory I  covered. 

I  was  with  E.  P.  Dodge  until  1900  and  represented 
him  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  all  told. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  one  of  the  very  finest  men  in  the 
trade,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  work  for  him.  In 
all  the  years  I  was  with  him  I  never  had  an  unkind 
or  ungenerous  word  from  him.  He  was  all  that  was 
just  and  fair  and  honorable,  and  I  am  glad  at  this 

42 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

time  to  pay  this  tribute  to  his  memory.  His 
partner  was  Henry  B.  Little,  and  Mr.  Little  was 
truly  one  of  God's  noblemen.  Mr.  Little  is  in 
business  now  as  a  member  of  the  shoe  manufacturing 
firm  of  Ireland-Graf  ton  Company  at  Dover,  N.  H. 
These  two  men  were  the  highest  type  of  business 
men,  and  no  man  ever  was  associated  with  better. 

John  L.  Dodge,  brother  of  E.  P.  Dodge,  was  also 
a  high-minded  gentleman  and  a  splendid  man,  and 
I  can  speak  of  him  in  the  very  highest  terms.  As 
stated  before  it  was  through  him  that  I  happened  to 
make  a  connection  with  E.  P.  Dodge.  John  L. 
Dodge's  sons,  Harry  D.  Dodge  and  "Chan"  Dodge, 
have  maintained  the  high  standard  of  the  name,  as 
members  of  Dodge  Brothers  at  Newburyport. 

As  this  book  is  in  preparation  for  the  press  I  learn 
with  deep  regret  of  the  sudden  death  of  Nathan  D. 
Dodge,  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  May  8,  1915.  Mr. 
Dodge  was  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  finest 
character,  "a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,"  whom 
I  long  knew  and  respected.  His  son,  William  G. 
Dodge,  is  head  of  the  present  Nathan  D.  Dodge 
Shoe  Company  at  Newburyport. 

VIII 

In  recalling  the  many  trips  I  made  during  this 
period  from  1879  to  1900,  memory  naturally  brings 

43 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

the  names  and  recollections  of  many  of  the  buyers 
I  called  on  and  sold.  I  well  recall  among  these, 
without  going  into  an  extended  list,  the  following 
gentlemen  and  houses,  then  widely  known  as  repre- 
sentative shoe  merchants  of  their  day  and  generation : 
C.  D.  Packard,  Troy;  Mr.  McDougall,  Syracuse; 
William  Eastwood  and  George  Gould,  Rochester; 
N.  O.  Stone,  Cleveland;  James  H.  Jewett,  Buffalo; 
Mr.  Nettleton  (a  brother  of  A.  E.  Nettleton), 
Toledo;  A.  R.  Morgan  and  Richard  H.  Fyfe,  Detroit; 
Bullock  Brothers,  N.  B.  Holden,  B.  F.  DeMuth,  D. 
L.  Streeter,  Chicago;  Bradley  &  Metcalf,  Milwaukee; 
J.  P.  Schnellbacher  and  H.  Thielbar,  Peoria;  J.  G. 
Brandt,  T.  J.  Reid,  C.  E.  Hilts,  Mr.  Cristman,  The 
Famous,  The  Grand  Leader,  St.  Louis;  J.  M.  Potter, 
and  Mablew  &  Carew,  Cincinnati. 

Many  others  I  knew  well  and  deeply,  and  counted 
as  my  friends.  Most  of  them  have  retired  or  passed 
to  the  Great  Beyond,  for  Time  reaps  his  sure  harvest, 
and  when  a  man  reaches  four-score  years  he  has  seen 
the  going  out  of  many,  many  friends  he  knew  and 
valued  in  the  years  gone  by. 


In  1900  I  decided  to  retire  from  such  active  work 
as  the  Dodge  line  required,  and  I  severed  my  con- 
nection with  reluctance  and  regret,  after  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  of  service. 


44 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

Here  I  wish  to  say  a  word  of  appreciation  for  the 
many  warm  friendships  I  made  among  my  fellow 
shoe  traveling  men.  A  bit  later  I  shall  have  some- 
thing to  say  by  way  of  recollection  of  some  of  these 
royal  good  fellows  and  companions  in  the  work. 

For  four  years  after  1900  I  engaged  in  buying  and 
selling  shoes  on  my  own  account,  dealing  in  about  the 
same  grade  of  goods  made  by  E.  P.  Dodge  &  Co.  My 
office  was  at  25  Lincoln  Street.  I  made  several 
trips  and  carried  a  stock  of  shoes  at  Lincoln  Street. 
This  I  continued  until  1904.  In  1905  I  was  obliged 
to  cease  active  work,  on  account  of  trouble  with  my 
knees  which  prevented  travel  or  hard  work;  and  I 
have  since  "taken  life  easy." 


IX 

The  recent  organization  of  the  National  Shoe 
Travelers'  Association  brought  back  to  my  memory 
the  recollection  of  the  first  association  of  traveling 
shoe  salesmen  —  The  Boot  and  Shoe  Travelers' 
League.  This  was  founded  in  the  spring  of  1885. 
The  circumstances  were  as  here  related. 

A  dozen  or  more  of  the  boys  happened  to  be  to- 
gether in  Boston,  and  the  suggestion  was  made  that 
an  organization  be  formed.  The  idea  was  well  re- 
ceived, and  after  talking  it  over  we  decided  to  meet 
later  at  the  "boot  and  shoe  exchange"  and  effect  a 

45 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

temporary  organization.  This  was  done  a  few  days 
later,  with  a  temporary  membership  list  and  officers. 

Some  of  the  boys  who  participated  in  that  first 
gathering  for  the  purpose  of  organization  were: 
J.  Harry  Colburn,  Fred  Lemon,  David  Williams, 
James  Estabrook,  Joel  C.  Page,  Frank  Wilder, 
Oliver  M.  Fisher,  R.  W.  Fitzpatrick,  Rush  Green, 
George  W,  Hall,  J.  C.  Hunt,  E.  H.  Lewis,  E.  J. 
Pierce,  S.  Preston  Moses,  C.  C.  Robinson,  Fred 
Weldon,  and,  I  think,  Harry  Ripley  and  Charles 
J.  Shriner,  William  Noll  and  A.  W.  Gage. 

We  formed  a  temporary  organization,  April  10, 
1885,  and  adjourned  to  a  week  later,  when  a  perma- 
nent organization  was  accomplished. 

The  first  officers  of  the  "Boot  and  Shoe  Travelers' 
League,"  as  we  called  the  new  association,  were: 
president,  Robert  Sawyer;  vice-president,  Joel  C. 
Page;  secretary,  Frank  L.  Wilder;  treasurer,  George 
W.  Hall. 

Here  I  wish  especially  to  speak  of  the  objects  of 
the  new  organization,  as  set  forth  in  the  consitution 
and  by-laws: 

"  The  object  of  this  organization  is  to  adopt  plans 
which  shall  promote  and  maintain  a  high  standard  of 
business  integrity,  w  effect  which  it  shall  strive  to  co- 
operate between  its  members  and  manufacturers  and 
jobbers  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
manufacturers,  10  keep  a  list  of  honest  and  straight- 

46 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

forward  boot  and  shoe  salesmen;  also  a  list  of  manu- 
facturers and  jobbers  whose  names  are  larnished  by 
unfair  and  dishonest  dealings" 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  underlying  purpose  of  our 
"League"  was  the  uplifting  of  the  standard  of 
traveling  shoe  salesmanship  as  a  profession,  and  the 
elimination  of  the  evils  that  injured  the  calling,  both 
on  the  part  of  the  boys  and  the  manufacturers.  I 
have  always  felt  that  the  profession  of  shoe  sales- 
manship is  a  high  and  honorable  work,  and  have 
always  advocated  everything  tending  to  preserve  a 
high  standard  among  the  men  who  travel. 

We  had  several  meetings,  and  affairs  progressed 
nicely.  Pretty  soon,  however,  we  were  obliged  to 
leave  on  our  spring  trips,  and  matters  necessarily 
were  at  a  standstill  until  the  boys  began  to  return  to 
Boston  in  the  summer. 


The  first  social  gathering  of  any  consequence 
was  an  outing  and  dinner  down  the  harbor  that 
summer  of  1885.  We  chartered  a  boat  and,  ladies 
included,  made  the  sail  to  Downer's  Landing  on  the 
south  shore  of  Boston  Harbor.  Here  we  enjoyed  a 
fine  dinner. 

There  were  present  between  seventy-five  and  one 
hundred.  Several  of  the  boys  were  called  on  to  make 
speeches  and  a  general  good  time  was  enjoyed. 

47 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

In  February,  1886,  new  officers  were  elected,  and 
I  have  always  been  proud  of  the  fact  that  the  boys 
honored  me  by  making  me  president  at  that  time, 
and  I  served  two  terms.  W.  H.  Huntington  was 
elected  secretary  then. 

There  had  been  considerable  agitation  for  club 
rooms.  This  crystallized  into  action,  and  we  soon 
had  accomplished  this  purpose  by  securing  rooms, 
well  fitted  up,  on  Devonshire  Street.  The  boys 
patronized  these  rooms  regularly,  and  they  soon 
became  too  small  for  our  needs.  I  think  we  had 
about  two  hundred  members  at  that  time.  The 
membership  fee  was  raised  from  $5  to  $7. 


We  had  quite  a  spirited  election  in  1887,  a  good- 
natured  contest  resulting  in  unusual  interest.  The 
boys  who  could  not  be  present  were  allowed  to 
vote  by  proxy.  These  officers  were  elected:  presi- 
dent, Joel  C.  Page;  first  vice-president,  J.  Rush 
Green;  second  vice-president,  Fred  P.  Baker;  secre- 
tary, William  H.  Huntington;  treasurer,  George  W. 
Hall;  executive  committee,  Fred  Lemon,  N.  H. 
Redpath,  G.  F.  Blake,  D.  F.  Williams,  J.  B.  Spencer, 
W.  H.  Balkam,  Jr.,  T.  H.  Chamberlin,  A.  H.  Ather- 
ton. 

That  year  we  moved  from  Devonshire  Street. 
These  quarters  had  been  outgrown.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  investigate,  and  we  finally  secured 

48 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

a  location  on  Bosworth  Street,  off  Tremont  Street, 
not  far  from  the  "Old  Granary"  burying  ground. 
These  rooms  were  larger  and  fitted  up  more  elabor- 
ately. We  had  billiard  and  pool  tables  and  plenty 
of  card  tables,  chairs  and  other  furniture  for  our 
comfort  and  convenience. 

We  raised  about  $1,500  by  subscription  to  fit 
up  the  new  rooms.  I  have  a  list  of  these  subscrip- 
tions and  the  payments  of  the  money.  Some  of  the 
subscribers  to  the  fund  were:  George  Strong,  W.  W. 
Spaulding,  J.  S.  Turner,  Lilly,  Bracket  &  Co.,  J.  E. 
Donallen,  George  N.  Coburn,  William  Porter  &  Son, 
Kimball  Brothers,  Woodbury  Brothers,  Boyd  & 
Gary,  Ora  Cushman  &  Co.,  Houghton,  Coolidge 
&  Co.,  J.  W.  Brigham,  Packard  &  Grover,  Dunn, 
Green  &  Co.,  J.  C.  Bennett  &  Barnard,  Church, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Shoe  and  Leather  Reporter,  Hosmer, 
Codding  &  Co.,  Miller  &  Foster,  Moody,  Estabrook 
&  Co.,  Crapley  &  Co.,  Pfister  &  Vogel,  John  O'Con- 
nell  &  Son,  Alexander  Torrey,  Johnson,  Moody  & 
Co.,  Samuel  Hanna,  R.  G.  Salamon,  J.  M.  Lee  & 
Co.,  J.  H.  Torrey,  Terrill,  Church  &  Co.,  E.  P. 
Dodge  &  Co.,  Parker,  Holmes  &  Co.,  M.  C.  Dizer 
&  Co.,  Isaac  Prouty  &  Co.,  Redpath  Brothers, 
Peninsular  Novelty  Company,  Hayden,  Gardiner 
&  Co.,  Cox,  Gardner  &  Dorr,  Rice  &  Hutchins, 
Batchelder  &  Lincoln,  etc.  We  remained  in  Bosworth 
Place  three  years,  and  many  good  times  we  all  enjoyed 

49 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY     YEARS 

there.  I  often  wish  the  Boston  shoe  trade  had  a 
social  club  headquarters  like  that  now.  We  would 
all  enjoy  such  a  club. 

George  Ahl  succeeded  me  as  president,  and 
later  N.  H.  Redpath  was  president.  George  Strong 
was  the  last  head  of  the  League.  In  1893  I  was 
sent  to  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago  as  the  League's 
delegate  to  the  convention  of  traveling  salesmen 
then  held.  I  was  the  only  shoe  trade  delegate  at 
this  convention. 

In  1893  a  feeling  grew  up  in  the  League  that  the 
club  rooms  were  too  far  away  from  the  shoe  and 
leather  district,  and  after  considerable  looking  about, 
quarters  were  secured  on  Bedford  Street,  not  far 
from  Summer  and  Lincoln  streets. 

Here  our  rent  was  pretty  high  and  soon  we  found 
we  couldn't  stand  it,  together  with  other  increased 
expenses,  etc.,  and  so  the  League  finally  suspended 
activities,  in  1895,  I  think  it  was. 


I  am  glad  to  know  that  there  is  such  a  strong 
movement  in  the  organization  of  the  National  Shoe 
Travelers'  Association  and  I  wish  this  organization 
the  greatest  success. 

X 

My  whole  business  life  was  devoted  to  shoes,  and 
while  I  naturally  made  the  acquaintance  of  hun- 

50 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

dreds  of  retail  shoe  dealers,  manufacturers,  and 
others,  the  traveling  salesmen  form  the  central 
place  and  chief  remembrance  of  the  long  years  of  my 
active  business  career. 

The  recollection  of  the  traveling  shoe  salesmen 
is  constantly  with  me.  Daily  I  recall  the  faces  and 
figures  of  well-remembered  friends  of  the  road. 
Many  have  journeyed  on  across  the  border  into  the 
silent  land  of  the  beyond,  and  those  of  us  that  are 
left  will  never  forget  that  good  company,  the  com- 
panions of  another  and  an  earlier  generation. 

These  memory-sketches  would  be  incomplete 
without  at  least  a  fleeting  reference  to  some  of  the 
comrades  of  the  road.  I  wish  I  might  record  fit- 
tingly something  of  every  one,  but  neither  space  nor 
time  permits.  Indeed,  memory  is  so  fitful  that  I 
shall  likely  fail  to  put  down  here  some  of  the  things 
that  I  ought  not  to  overlook  and  that  will  occur  to 
me  later. 

Naturally  enough,  the  more  than  sixty  years 
that  I  traveled  brought  me  in  active  contact  with 
two  generations  of  traveling  salesmen,  and  I  am  to- 
day mingling  occasionally  with  the  young  men  that 
I  know  are  the  third  generation. 

As  I  have  written  before,  I  was  a  charter  mem- 
ber of  the  first  association  of  traveling  shoe  sales- 
men, the  Boot  and  Shoe  Travelers'  League,  and  was 
its  second  president.  When  I  retired  as  president 

51 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

of  the  league,  the  boys  presented  me  with  a  very 
valuable  gold-headed  ebony  cane.  I  still  have  that 
cane  and  prize  it  highly  as  a  treasured  memento  of 
other  days  and  friends  of  long  ago.  At  the  dinner  at 
which  this  cane  was  presented  to  me,  the  then  Gov- 
ernor Brackett  was  our  guest  and  sat  at  my  right; 
and  the  famous  clergyman,  Rev.  Dr.  Minot,  was  on 
my  left.  It  was  a  splendid  occasion. 

Later,  when  the  Boston  Shoe  Travelers'  Asso- 
ciation was  formed,  I  was  on  the  committee  to  nom- 
inate the  first  set  of  officers.  I  remember  well 
that  I  suggested  William  Noll  for  secretary,  and  he 
was  elected  and  has  remained  ever  since  the  popular 
and  efficient  incumbent  of  that  office.  The  late 
Thomas  D.  Barry  was  the  first  president  of  the  Bos- 
ton Shoe  Travelers'  Association. 


XI 

Who  were  some  of  my  comrades  and  friends  of 
the  road?  Out  of  the  multitude,  I  recall  to-day 
some  of  the  conspicuous  figures,  and  will  add  just  a 
line  or  two  of  their  names. 

The  first  traveling  salesman  that  I  recall  was 
Edward  Ray.  He  began  traveling  in  1855,  abput 
three  years  after  I  started.  He  represented  Pan- 
coast,  Sage  &  Moore  of  Rochester,  and  was  for 

52 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

years  a  landmark  among  shoe  salesmen.  I  do  not 
recollect  any  other  salesmen  earlier  than  1860.  After 
that  the  figures  multiply  rapidly,  and  I  can  only  refer 
to  a  few. 

In  the  sixties  and  seventies  I  remember  such  men 
as  W.  H.  Stacy,  Harry  Adams,  James  Richardson, 
Harry  H.  Gray,  J.  Harry  Colburn,  John  Davy, 
John  G.  Earl,  Newton  H.  Redpath,  John  Laird,  Ham 
Mead  and  George  Strong. 

In  the  eighties  and  thereabouts  I  call  to  mind 
such  men  as  A.  W.  Gage,  Henry  A.  Loomis,  A.  E. 
Little,  E.  J.  Pierce,  George  Smith,  E.  H.  Lewis,  J.  C. 
Hunt,  Frank  L.  Wilder,  E.  F.  Tibbetts,  George  Ahl, 
George  W.  Hall,  Herbert  A.  Harrington,  Harry  H. 
Ripley,  T.  H.  Chamberlin,  A.  W.  Dubois,  Oliver  M. 
Fisher,  Charles  J.  Shriner,  A.  C.  Walker,  C.  C. 
Robinson,  Wickliffe  A.  Hill,  Harry  D.  Dodge,  Fred 
Lemon,  and  W.  P.  Plummer. 

Some  of  these  no  doubt  lap  over  into  the  seven- 
ties a  bit,  and  some  were  in  the  later  eighties.  Of 
the  traveling  men  since  1890,  I  have  known  a  very 
great  many. 

Fred  Welden  traveled  for  J.  C.  Bennett  &  Bar- 
nard, of  Lynn.  He  is  now  dead.  He  was  a  splen- 
did man. 

W.  H.  Stacy  represented  Gray  Brothers,  and 
Harry  Adams  traveled  for  Burt's  men's  shoes. 
These  two  men  united  to  form  the  men's  fine  shoe 


53 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

manufacturing  house  of  Stacy,  Adams  &  Co.,  in 
Brockton,  in  1875.  Mr.  Stacy  is  active  in  that  busi- 
ness to-day.  Harry  Adams  died  several  years  ago 
and  is  remembered  most  kindly  for  his  genial  good 
nature. 

James  Richardson  traveled  for  the  then  well-known 
Reynolds  Brothers,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  is  now  in 
Chicago. 

Harry  H.  Gray,  now  deceased,  I  first  knew  in 
Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  a  shoe  store.  I 
sold  him  shoes  in  1865.  About  1869  he  went  to 
Syracuse  and  started  the  women's  manufacturing 
business  that  now  bears  his  name  as  "H.  H.  Gray's 
Son,"  and  is  owned  by  his  son,  John  S.  Gray. 
Harry  Gray  was  known  as  the  "dancing  man." 

J.  J.  Cromwell  traveled  for  a  New  York  house. 
He  is  now  dead. 

J.  Harry  Colburn  now  represents  Hanan  &  Son 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  is  a  brother  of  Frank  M. 
Colburn,  who  travels  for  Hazen  B.  Goodrich  &  Co. 
Harry  Colburn  traveled  in  the  early  days  for  Henry 
Damon,  and  at  a  later  period  was  with  Hathaway, 
Soule  &  Harrington. 

J.  G.  Earl,  now  dead,  was  the  poet  of  the  trav- 
eling salesmen  of  the  earlier  generation.  He  repre- 
sented Krippendorf-Dittman,  of  Cincinnati. 

Newton  H.  Redpath,  who  died  several  years  ago, 
sold  goods  for  Redpath  Brothers,  Boston,  of  which 

54 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

firm  he  was  a  member.  He  was  a  brother  of  E.  W.. 
Redpath. 

John  Laird  traveled  for  Laird,  Schober  &  Mitch- 
ell, of  Philadelphia. 

Hamilton  Mead  was  a  salesman  for  Krippen- 
dorf-Dittman.  He  is  dead  now. 

A.  W.  Gage  was  on  the  road  in  the  later  eighties 
for  his  own  firm  of  Hayes,  Gage  &  Loomis.  Henry 
A.  Loomis,.  of  the  same  firm,  died  in  California, 
over  twenty  years  ago.  Both  were  also  on  the 
road  for  George  F.  Daniels. 

E.  J.  Pierce,  now  in  Chicago,  represented  Alex. 
Torrey  &  Co. 

George  Smith  traveled  for  E.  P.  Dodge. 

George  Strong  carried  his  own  shoes,  and  is 
still  active  as  the  head  of  his  factory  at  East  Wey- 
mouth,  Mass. 

E.  F.  Tibbetts,  now  dead,  sold  his  own  shoes, 
made  in  Newburyport.     He  was  a  big-hearted  man. 

F.  L.  Wilder,  who  died  some  years  ago,  was  for 
several  years  with  E.  P.  Dodge,  later  for  himself. 

J.  C.  Hunt  traveled  for  Cox,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
died  a  number  of  years  ago. 

W.  P.  Plummer  was  one  of  the  first  salesmen  with 
E.  P.  Dodge  &  Co. 

George  W.  Hall  was  one  of  the  well-known  sales- 
men during  the  eighties.  He  died  at  his  home  in 
Rockland,  Mass.,  a  year  or  two  ago. 

55 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

Wickliffe  A.  Hill  was  for  years  on  the  road  for, 
and  a  partner  of,  A.  E.  Nettleton,  of  Syracuse.  He 
lives  in  Syracuse. 

A.  C.  Walker  was  with  P.  Ware,  Jr.,  &  Co. 
Herbert  A.  Harrington  sold  shoes  for  Hathaway  & 
Soule,  and  later  became  a  member  of  the  firm,  as 
Hathaway,  Soule  &  Harrington.  He  was  later  with 
the  J.  G.  Brandt  Shoe  Company,  retail  dealers,  St. 
Louis. 

Harry  D.  Dodge,  a  son  of  John  L.  Dodge,  first 
carried  shoes  on  the  road  for  his  uncle,  N.  D.  Dodge, 
and  managed  a  jobbing  store  in  New  York  for  the 
same  uncle.  Later  he  came  back  to  Newburyport 
and  helped  establish  Dodge  Brothers,  with  which 
house  he  is  still  connected. 

Fred  Lemon,  well  known  in  his  day,  died  several 
years  ago.  He  had  the  first  named  shoe,  I  believe. 

Oliver  M.  Fisher,  now  president  of  the  M.  A. 
Packard  Company,  Brockton,  was  on  the  road  in  the 
eighties,  for  this  company. 

Harry  Ripley  was  then  with  J.  C.  Bennett  & 
Barnard,  of  Lynn.  He  is  now  traveling  South  for  L. 
B.  Evans'  Son  Company. 

Charles  J.  Shriner  and  Milton  Urner  I  remember 
first  as  traveling  for  a  Baltimore  house,  and  later  for 
French  &  Hall,  of  Rockland,  and  still  later  they 
established  the  men's  fine  shoe  manufacturing  firm 
of  French,  Shriner  &  Urner,  in  Boston.  Mr.  Urner 

56 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

died  two  or  three  years  ago.  Mr.  Shriner  died  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1915. 

A.  W.  Dubois  is  now  with  Charles  K.  Fox,  Inc., 
in  New  York. 

John  Davy,  then  in  Cincinnati,  was  with  Rice 
&  Hutchins,  at  New  Orleans,  but  died  recently. 

C.  C.  Robinson,  now  with  P.  J.  Harney  in  Cin- 
cinnati, I  understand,  was  with  P.  Ware,  Jr.,  &  Co., 
in  those  days. 

XI 

The  close  of  the  war  in  1865  brought  about  a  big 
revival  in  the  shoe  business.  No  less  than  ten  new 
jobbing  houses  started  up  in  Boston  in  1865-1866. 


As  now,  the  boys  on  the  road  used  to  meet  at  the 
different  points  en  route  and  fraternalize.  There 
has  always  been  a  very  good  feeling  of  comradeship 
among  the  traveling  shoe  salesmen. 


Hotels  always  have  played  a  big  part  in  the  life  of 
the  traveling  men.  Great  changes  have  taken  place 
in  this  particular,  and  the  accommodations  and  con- 
veniences now  afforded  the  shoe  boys  are  vastly 
superior  to  the  conditions  fifty  years  ago,  and  I  am 
glad  of  that.  Life  on  the  road  is  hard  enough,  and 

57 


RECOLLECTIONS     OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

the  boys  are  entitled  to  all  the  comfort  first-class 
hotels  can  give. 

In  the  old  days  I  recall  that  we  used  mainly  to 
stop  at  the  Gibson  House,  Cincinnati;  the  Tremont 
Hotel,  in  Chicago,  before  the  fire  and  later  at  the 
Palmer  House;  at  the  Planters'  and  the  Lindall,  in  St. 
Louis.  I  was  at  the  Lindall  in  St.  Louis  at  the  time  of 
the  great  storm  over  fifteen  years  ago.  At  Louisville 
we  stopped  at  the  Louisville,  and  at  Kansas  City  it 
was  the  St.  James,  first,  and  later  the  Midland. 


XII 

Now  I  come  to  the  concluding  chapter  of  this  ac- 
count of  my  sixty  years  of  service  in  the  shoe  trade. 
The  telling  of  this  life's  history  has  been  a  source  of 
pleasure  to  me,  and  as  the  many  years  have  passed  in 
review  I  have  found  enjoyment  in  the  contemplation, 
and  have  in  some  measure  lived  again  these  fruitful 
and  pleasant  years.  I  hope  the  readers  of  this 
account  have  had  as  much  pleasure  in  the  reading  as 
I  have  had  in  the  writing. 

The  main  thought  that  is  present,  as  I  reach  the 
conclusion,  is  one  of  wonderment  at  the  many  and 
vast  changes  that  have  transpired  in  these  sixty  years 
and  more  since  I  first  ventured  forth  to  sell  shoes 
from  sample,  the  pioneer  of  that  long  and  disting- 
uished line  of  men  who  have  constituted  the  army  of 

58 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF    SIXTY    YEARS 

traveling  shoe  salesmen  with  whom  I  have  always 
been  proud  to  count  myself  an  associate  and  com' 
panion  in  the  work. 

Think  of  the  change  from  the  shoemaker  of 
seventy-five  years  ago,  working  away  in  his  chimney 
corner,  bent  over  his  work,  the  tub  of  water  by  his 
side,  his  tools  handy  to  reach!  He  was  a  complete 
shoemaker,  fashioning  the  entire  shoe  from  cutting 
to  finishing.  He  made  all  the  shoes  for  his  own 
family  and  for  as  many  others  as  time  permitted. 

The  few  "factories,"  or  shops,  making  a  few  hun- 
dred barrels  of  low-cut  shoes,  and  shipping  these  to 
cities,  such  as  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  have 
grown  to  a  thousand  modern  factories  and  great 
firms,  some  making  as  many  as  fifty  thousand  pairs 
a  day.  Just  think  of  it — fifty  thousand  pairs  a 
day!  It  is  almost  past  belief.  From  supplying  a 
few  neighbors  and  shipping  a  few  barrels  away  to  the 
cities,  the  American  shoemaker  now  supplies  a  hun- 
dred millions  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  also  furnishes 
footwear  to  every  civilized  nation  on  earth.  No  in- 
dustry can  show  greater  progress  and  development 
than  the  shoe  trade.  I  could  go  on  making  compari- 
sons that  would  be  astonishing,  and  still  barely  touch 
on  the  wonders  of  it  all. 

As  I  have  previously  said,  I  believe  that  I  was  the 
very  first  man  ever  to  sell  shoes  to  the  retail  trade 
from  sample  on  the  road.  From  such  humble  be- 

59 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF     IXTY    YEARS 


ginnings,  one  salesman,  with  a 
an  old-fashioned  valise,  to-day 
men,  with  heavily  laden  samp] 
one  hundred  to  five  hundred 
season,  visiting  every  city,  t< 
land. 

What  other  business  has 
advancement  in  two  generat 

I  believe  this  progress  wi 
years  to  come.     As  new  pro 
can  shoe  manufacturer  and  t 
man  will  solve  them  all  with 
telligence,  ability  and  integi 


•w  samples  in  half  of 
i  thousand  shoe  sales- 
runks,  carrying  from 
mples,  go  forth  each 
n  and  hamlet  in  the 

lade  such  wonderful 

oe  maintained  in  the 
•ms  arise,  the  Ameri- 
American  shoe  sales- 
urage,  persistence,  in- 


Now  I  want  to  say  a  ft 
comrades  of  the  road,  and  c 
ates  in  the  trade.     I  have  a 
friendships   I   have   enjoyed 
and  it  is  my  desire  to  give 
evidences     of    good-will,     c 
Many  of  the  old  friends  ha 
good  memories  of  other  yean 
tion  now  living,  and  the  y^ 
privileged  to  know  in  these 
wish   to  thank  for  generoi 
continually  am   reminded 
and  these  reminiscences  a 
blessing  to  my  old  age. 


words  to  all  my  old 
er  friends  and  associ- 
ays  valued  deeply  the 
mong  the  shoe  men, 
anks  to  all  for  many 
rtesy  and  kindness. 

passed  away,  leaving 
\11  of  the  older  genera- 
iger  men  I  have  been 
ter  years  of  my  life,  I 
kindnesses  to  me.  I 
old  friends  and  new, 
indeed  a  light  and  a 


60 


RECOLLECTION     OF     SIXTY    YEARS 

The  trade  journals  1  ve  grown,  in  my  remem- 
brance, to  become  powe  ill  influences  in  the  trade, 
and  I  appreciate  their  lany  courtesies  to  me  and 
recognize  the  large  place  hey  occupy  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  traveling  salsmen.  The  Boot  and  Shoe 
Recorder  was  the  first  to^tart.  I  remember  it  very 
well,  over  thirty  years  ^o.  The  Boots  and  Shoes 
Weekly ,  now  the  Shoe  Railer,  followed  soon  after, 
then  the  Footwear  Fashic  and  others  came  into  ex- 
istence later.  And  THE  SDEMAN,  in  whose  pages  have 
appeared  these  reminisceres  of  a  long  life,  has  earned 
a  very  high  place  in  the  fcces  for  good  in  the  trade. 

The  various  manufaci  rers'  and  salesmen's  asso- 
ciations have  come  into  b<ng  in  the  last  generation, 
and  have  been  great  faors  in  the  development  of 
our  trade,  especially  in  bnging  together  the  various 
interests  and  individuals. and  have  created  a  wide 
and  deep  spirit  of  fendship,  good-will  and 
co-operation  that  has  complished  much  good, 
and  will  continue  to  be  >f  much  more  benefit  in 
the  future.  These  associ.  ions  have  honored  me  by 
electing  me  to  honorary  lembership,  and  I  warmly 
appreciate  their  kindness  id  signal  courtesy.  May 
they  all  live  long  and  pnper  and  all  good  fortune 
attend  the  members! 

In  conclusion,  my  heariest,  best  wishes  go  out  to 
all  my  good  friends  in  the  tide,  for  all  the  good  things 
of  life,  success  well  won  ad  prosperity  enjoyed. 


A.  W.  GAGE 

Mr.  Gage,  one  of  the  pioneer  traveling  shoe  salesmen,  collected  the  old- 
time  photographs  of  veteran  shoe  salesmen  originally  published  in  The 
Shoeman,  and  has  assisted  in  the  further  compilation  for  this  volume; 
he  has  also  written  the  brief  sketches  accompanying  these  portraits. 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SHOE  SALESMEN 
O  F  TWENTY-  OR-MORE- YEARS'  STANDING 
AND  WHOSE  PORTRAITS  ARE  HERE  SHOWN 


BY  A.  W.  GAGE 


NOTE. —  These  sketches  are  in  the  order  in  which  the  portraits  are  published  else- 
where, grouped  according  to  the  plate  numbers.  No  attempt  is  made  to  give  complete 
biographical  data. —  Editor. 


JOEL  C.  PAGE 

I  hardly  dare  say  how  long  ago  he  first  began  to 
travel  selling  shoes,  but  he  was  the  first  to  show  sam- 
ples to  the  retail  trade.  I  believe  it  was  some  fifty 
years  ago.  I  cannot  remember  all  the  houses  he  rep- 
resented, but  all  his  old  friends  associate  him  with  the 
old  firm  of  E.  P.  Dodge  &  Co.,  of  Newburyport,  Mass., 
whom  he  represented  for  many  years.  He  has  now 
retired,  and  at  the  age  of  eighty- three  is  still  hale  and 
hearty,  and  comes  to  Boston  from  Melrose  about 
once  a  week  or  so,  to  meet  those  who  are  left  of  his 
old  friends,  and  to  talk  over  old  times. 

A.  W.  SARGENT 

This  is  A.  W.  Sargent,  better  known  as  "Pop" 
Sargent.  There  was  no  better  known  man  in  those 
days  than  "Pop"  Sargent.  He  sold  for  A.  F.  Smith, 
of  Lynn,  and  probably  sold  more  shoes  for  them  than 
any  of  the  "ten-thousand-dollar  men"  of  these  days. 
He  will  be  remembered  by  many  of  the  old  buyers. 
He  died  in  Chicago  about  twenty  years  ago. 

63 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

CHARLES  W.  NEWHALL 

You  will  all  probably  recognize  the  portrait  of 
Charlie  Newhall.  He  looks  just  the  same  to-day, 
only  his  hair  has  grown.  We  all  remember  him  as  of 
Newhall  &  Barbour  of  Lynn,  then  with  Whitman, 
&  Keith ;  also  Mrs.  A.  R.  King  Corporation,  Lynn.  He 
is  now  with  the  Burdett  Shoe  Company,  Lynn,  and  is 
just  as  lively  as  ever.  Nobody  knows  how  old  he  is 
and  he  doesn't  care ;  but  how  he  does  enjoy  his  summer 
home  in  Maine! 

THOMAS  S.  SLACK 

You  will  have  to  guess  who  this  is.  The  original 
of  this  picture  was  once  with  P.  Cox  &  Co.,  Rochester, 
and  later  with  the  Dalton  Shoe  Company.  Now  he 
has  settled  down  in  New  York  City,  representing  the 
Bliss  &  Perry  Company  of  Newburyport,  and  the 
Miller  Shoe  Company  of  Cincinnati.  He  has  now  a 
smooth  face  and  a  fat  stomach  and  his  name  is 
Thomas  S.  Slack.  He  is  responsible  for  the  nucleus 
of  this  collection. 

R.  J.  PRINCE 

Here  is  Rod.  J.  Prince  of  Portland,  Ore.;  but 
seeing  this  photo  with  whiskers  you  would  hardly 
know  him  now  with  his  smooth-shaven  chin. 

He  is  well  known  from  Michigan  to  the  Coast, 
where  he  is  now  selling  M.  A.  Packard  shoes  and  has 

64 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

a  jobbing  house  in  Portland,  Ore.  In  the  old  days 
he  will  be  remembered  by  the  old  dealers  in  Michi- 
gan, when  he  was  selling  for  Redpath  Brothers  and 
traveling  with  his  old  friend  Hatch. 

WALTER  S.  ALDRIDGE 

Walter  Aldridge  was  so  well  known  that  we  can 
say  little.  His  sudden  death,  December  9,  1910,  was 
such  a  sad  blow  to  his  friends  that  we  need  say  no 
more.  We  all  remember  him  as  with  Wright  & 
Peters,  and  at  his  death,  a  member  of  the  firm.  This 
picture,  taken  over  twenty-five  years  ago,  shows  little 
change,  only  he  was  stouter  at  the  time  of  his  much- 
regretted  death. 

GEORGE  L.  HALE 

We  now  have  Uncle  George  L.  Hale,  from  a  pic- 
ture taken  in  the  early  80's.  Can't  see  that  he  has 
changed  much,  for  now  at  seventy-nine  he  looks 
about  the  same  and  is  as  active  selling  Louns- 
bury  &  Soule's  shoes  in  New  York  State  and  New 
England  as  he  was  for  Lounsbury  &  Matthewson  and 
John  J.  Lattemann  and  a  few  other  lines.  He  is  indeed 
one  of  the  "old  boys."  Probably  he  is  the  second  old- 
est salesman  next  to  Joel  Page. 

E.  M.  HUTCHINSON 

This  is  "Old  Hutch,  "  but,  to  be  more  respectful, 
his  name  is  E.  M.  Hutchinson,  for  we  must  be  respect- 

65 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

ful,  as  he  has  retired  and  has  a  retail  store  in  Portland, 
Me.  He  is  best  known  by  his  old  friends  as  traveling 
for  Adam  B.  Robbins,  Wallace  Elliot  and  later  for 
E.  &  G.  Wallace.  When  you  see  this,  I  bet  you'll 
remember  him. 

DAVID  WILLIAMS 

There  are  many  in  the  middle  West  and  on  the 
coast  who  will  remember  this  face  —  Little  Dave 
Williams,  who  traveled  for  E.  P.  Dodge  and  made  so 
many  friends  by  his  witty  sayings.  He  died  about 
twenty  years  ago  in  Boston,  but  we  will  never  forget 
him. 

II 

WILLIAM  M.  KILEY 

You  may  not  recognize  this  picture,  yet  he  is 
still  one  of  the  best-known  salesmen  of  the  country, 
—  "Billy"  Kiley.  He  began,  we  believe,  in  Newark, 
N.  J.,  with  Johnston  &  Murphy,  and  was  with  the 
Dorsch  Shoe  Company,  and  originated  the  "bull  dog" 
shoe.  He  was  with  Gordon  &  Kiley  and  McDonald 
&  Kiley  of  Cincinnati.  He  is  still,  selling  shoes  from 
Cincinnati,  now  with  the  Manss  Shoe  Manufacturing 
Company.  Nuf  sed. 

C.  B.  SLATER 

Here  we  have  another  guess,  but  it  is  C.  B.  Slater 
or  "Bert"  Slater,  as  he  is  known  by  his  old  friends; 

66 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

now  of  the  firm  of  Slater  &  Morrill,  Inc.,  South  Brain- 
tree,  Mass.  Would  you  know  him  now,  with  his 
gray  hair  and  smooth  face?  The  history  of  his  past 
life  is  not  hard  to  write,  but  as  we  remember  him  he 
was  with  C.  H.  Fargo,  Chicago,  for  some  years,  then 
with  Whitman  &  Keith,  and  several  years  ago  formed 
the  present  firm  of  Slater  &  Morrill. 

JAMES  A.  LAWRENCE 

To  see  this  picture  you  would  not  think  that  it 
was  our  gray-haired  friend,  James  A.  Lawrence.  As 
we  remember  him  he  was  once  in  the  retail  and  job- 
bing shoe  business  in  Marshalltown,  la.,  then  with  P. 
Cox  &  Co.,  and  the  Dalton  Shoe  Company,  and  later 
opened  up  a  jobbing  house  in  Chicago.  He  is  now 
with  Burley  &  Stevens,  and  as  lively  as  ever. 

A.  W.  GAGE 

This  is  not  a  picture  of  Justice  Hughes,  but  of  A. 
W.  Gage,  mostly  known  as  "Gagey."  He  has  had 
quite  a  career,  beginning  his  shoe  experience  with 
Geo.  F.  Daniels  in  1878,  being  in  the  firm  until  he  re- 
signed to  form  the  firm  of  Hayes,  Gage  &  Loomis. 
Then  after  a  severe  sickness  he  traveled  for  P.  A. 
Wadleigh,  remaining  with  him  for  twelve  years. 
After  being  out  of  the  shoe  game  for  two  years  (to  his 
sorrow)  he  returned  to  the  road.  We  can  only  say 
that  he  is  slightly  changed,  but  still  in  the  ring. 

67 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

CLARE  A.  BENEDICT 

Now  we  come  to  the  sublime;  in  this  picture  of  the 
"Beau  Brummell"  of  the  days  past  —  Clare  Aubert 
Benedict.  We  can  never  forget  him.  He  traveled 
for  Hanan  &  Son,  Selz-Schwab  and  Williams-Knee- 
land  Company.  Of  late  years  he  has  retired  from  the 
shoe  game,  and  last  heard  from  was  selling  automo- 
biles in  Buffalo,  and  we  hope  and  believe  successfully. 

HENRY  A.  LOOMIS 

I  fear  that  not  many  will  remember  this  face.  It 
is  the  junior  member  of  the  formerly  well-known  firm 
of  Hayes,  Gage  &  Loomis,  —  Henry  A.  Loomis, 
better  known  as  "the  Professor"  because  he  looked 
more  like  a  professor  than  a  shoe  salesman,  but  all  he 
professed  to  sell  was  shoes  and  he  sold  a  lot  of  them 
in  his  day.  He  began  his  career  with  George  F. 
Daniels.  He  passed  over  the  Great  Divide  about 
twenty  years  ago  at  Gault,  Cal.  He  was  a  prince  of 
good  fellows  and  will  be  remembered,  among  many 
splendid  qualities,  for  his  quaint  sayings. 

HERBERT  HILL 

This  looks  like  some  good  old  sport  and  perhaps 
it  is,  for  it  represents  little  "Herb"  Hill  as  he  looked 
twenty-five  years  ago,  when  he  was  selling  a  lot  of 
shoes  for  John  Foster  of  Beloit,  Wis.  We  remember 

(Continued  on  page  81} 
68 


"  Should  Auld  Acquaintance  Be  Forgot, 
And  Never  Brought  to  Mind  ? 
Should  Auld  Acquaintance  Be  Forgot, 
And  the  Days  oj  Auld  Lang  Syne  ?  " 


u  To  know,  to  esteem,  to  love,  and  then  to  part 
Makes  up  the  tale  of  many  a  feeling  heart." 


II 


"  Life!  We've  been  long  together, 
Through  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather" 


Ill 


The  thought  of  our  past  years  in  me  doth  breed 
Perpetual  benediction." — WORDSWORTH 


IV 


"  /  knew  him,  Horatio:  a  fellow  of  infinite  jest, 
of  most  excellent  fancy."  —  HAMLET 


Harr/H.Rtp/ey 


V 


'My  never  failing  friends  are  they, 
With  whom  I  converse  every  day."  —  SOUTHEY 


VI 


Thy  courtesies  about  thee  play 

With  no  restraint,  but  such  as  spring 

From  quick  and  eager  vistings.  "  —  WORDSWORTH 


r 


C./T 


VII 


"  The  friendship  I  have  conceived  will 
not  be  impaired  by  absence"  - — GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


?/7/y  Samers 


Herbert  M.Pu//fer\ 


George  PY.  Cook 


Ma* 


*J 


7*  &, * 


"What  strange  disguise  hast  now  -put  on  ?  " 

—  COLERIDGE 


' 


'Wallace  T  Grow 


' 


James 


Oliver  M.F/sher 


IX 


'  '  Tis  greatly  wise  to  talk  with  our  past  hours, 
And  ask  then  what  report  they  .bore  to  heaven" —  YOUNG 


X 


We  spend  our  years  as  a  tale  that  is  told." —  PSALMS  xc:  9 


XI 


*'  The  friends  thou  hast,  and  their  adoption  tried, 
Grapple  them  to  thy  soul  with  hooks  of  steel" —  SHAKESPEARE 


Win  fields.  Bacon 


Gzorm  T,  Chase 


Wiffia.mJ.Sf.  Louis 


J.  Rush  Green 


XII 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

(Continued  from  page  68) 

him  first  with  Rumsey  Brothers  of  Lynn.  For  some 
years  he  was  in  poor  health,  but  lately  has  come  back 
to  earth,  and  we  often  meet  him  at  the  Essex  Hotel. 

JAMES  A.  WALLACE 

We  hope  you  haven't  forgotten  James  A.  Wallace 
who  made  his  mark  years  ago  selling  Upham  Brothers' 
shoes  in  the  middle  West  and  on  the  Coast.  He  died 
in  Providence,  after  a  long  sickness,  fifteen  years  ago. 

MATT  MULLEN 

We  think  you  will  all  recognize  this  handsome 
face  looking  just  as  happy  and  genial  to-day  as  he  did 
twenty-five  years  ago,  only  there  are  a  few  more  gray 
hairs.  Matt  Mullen  we  remember  first  with  Newhall 
&  Barber  and  also  the  Mullen  Shoe  Company,  and  he 
is  now  still  with  the  Mullen  Shoe  Company,  22  High 
Street,  Boston,  —  one  of  the  greatest  shoe  salesmen 
of  the  time. 

Ill 

EUGENE  BALDWIN 

Many  of  our  old  friends  will  be  glad  to  see  this 
happy  face  again,  for  Eugene  Baldwin,  although  he 
died  about  twenty  years  ago  in  Cambridge,  is  still 
remembered  in  the  Northwest,  where  he  traveled  for 
many  years.  Who  could  forget  his  witty  sayings? 
Wish  space  allowed  us  to  repeat  some  of  them.  We 

81 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

remember  him  as  being  with  C.  W.  Copeland,  Burley 
&  Usher  and  R.  T.  Wood  &  Co.,  and  when  he  passed 
away  he  was  with  W.  L.  Douglas.  He  was  the 
"noblest  Roman  of  them  all." 

GEORGE  LANE 

George  Lane  is  well  remembered  in  Indiana  and 
parts  of  the  South.  We  remember  him  with  Wallace 
Elliott  and  now  with  Williams  &  Kneeland.  He 
looks  about  the  same  to-day,  only  gray  hairs  come  to 
one  of  his  age.  What  that  is,  no  one  knows,  but  ask 
Old  "Hutch"  —  he  can  give  a  history  of  his  past  life. 

RALPH  MEARS  and  E.  W.  MEARS 

This  is  not  a  vaudeville  sketch,  but  a  photo  of  two 
well-known  salesmen.  You  will  be  surprised  when  I 
tell  you  the  one  on  the  left  is  Ralph  Mears,  long 
identified  with  selling  the  jobbing  trade,  and  very 
successful  in  that  day  as  he  is  in  the  present. 

The  one  with  the  whiskers  all  over  his  face  is  our 
old  friend,  E.  W.  Mears.  He  was  at  this  time  with 
Tibbetts  &  Couch  and  later  with  James  A.  Banister 
&  Co.,  but  for  the  past  ten  years  has  sold  lots  of 
rubbers  in  New  England.  This  picture  was  taken 
about  thirty  years  ago.  Observe  the  dinky  little 
hats  and  the  Seymour  coats. 

82 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING    SALESMEN 

The  shoe  Ed.  has  in  his  hand  was  a  woman's  Curico 
Kid  McKay,  selling  for  $2.25.  Guess  you  could  get  a 
better  one  in  these  days  of  higher  prices  at  31.60. 

MESSRS.  HUNT,  SARGENT  and  KURD 

This  is  not  a  gang  of  hold-up  men,  but  was  taken 
for  Charlie  Hunt  on  right,  "Pop  "  Sargent  on  the  left 
and  "Al"  Hurd  in  the  center.  Hurd  was  at  that  time 
with  Strong  &  Carroll.  Now  he  is  in  the  leather  busi- 
ness in  Brockton.  The  others  have  been  described. 

J.  C.  HUNT 

J.  C.  Hunt,  familiarly  known  as  "Charlie"  Hunt. 
He  was  best  remembered  selling  N.  B.  Cox  &  Co.'s 
line  of  cacks  and  he  sold  a  lot  of  them  in  his  active 
days.  You  would  scarcely  recognize  him  during  his 
long,  lingering  sickness,  of  which  he  died  about  three 
years  ago  at  Richmond  Hills,  New  York.  He  was  a 
stockbroker,  and  retired  some  years  ago. 

WILLIAM  NOLL 

This  is  not  a  photo  of  Emperor  William,  but, 
being  German,  he  looks  the  part,  for  here  we  see 
"Billy  "Noll,  the  hard-working  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Boston  Shoe  Travelers'  Association.  He 
was  pretty  lively  in  the  days  this  picture  was  taken, 
selling  for  E.  P.  Dodge,  and,  after  a  short,  successful 
stay  in  journalism,  he  is  now  with  the  Foster  Rubber 
Company,  promoting  the  "Cat's-Paw"  rubber  heel. 

83 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

HAMILTON  MEAD 

Our  old  friend  "Ham"  Mead  is  not  forgotten, 
although  he  died  in  Cincinnati  about  fifteen  years  ago 
after  a  lingering  illness.  He  was  a  jolly  fellow,  and 
loved  by  everybody  when  with  Hart,  Mead  &  Co.; 
later  salesmanager  with  Krippendorf,  Dittman  &  Co., 
Cincinnati. 

FRANK  M.  COLBURN 

Frank  Colburn  still  on  deck  selling  for  Hazen  B. 
Goodrich  &  Co.,  in  the  South,  and  you  can  meet  him 
at  the  Goodrich  office,  183  Essex  Street,  Boston,  any 
day  between  seasons,  along  with  Clarence  P.  Waide, 
Frank  Lord,  Ernest  Rankin,  Tommy  Johnson,  Arthur 
Brooks,  John  McElaney  and  others.  He  will  also 
be  remembered  as  being  with  E.  P.  Dodge  and  P.  N. 
Wadleigh,  selling  out  on  the  Coast. 

JOHN  CURRY 

Here  we  have  a  well- remembered  face:  John  Curry, 
who  was  for  years  with  James  A.  Banister  &  Co.,  of 
Newark,  selling  the  line  in  the  middle  West.  He  died 
in  the  Palmer  House,  Chicago.  He  used  one  quaint 
expression  so  often  that  he  was  called  "Bloody John." 

IV 

WALTER  HART 
Who  would  know  this  as  Walter  Hart?     He  was, 

84 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

years  ago,  with  E.  P.  Dodge,  then  with  the  Newbury- 
port  Shoe  Company. 

He  retired  from  the  shoe  business  a  few  years  ago, 
and  enjoys  life  doing  nothing,  and  he  has  plenty  of 
money,  so  he  can  afford  to. 

CHRISTOPHER  MCDERMOTT 

Now  here  we  have  "Chris"  McDermott,  one  of 
the  best  old  boys  that  we  have.  This  picture  was  taken 
at  least  twenty  years  ago.  He  was  well  remembered 
as  the  first  salesman  who  traveled,  selling  a  foreign 
line  of  slippers.  He  represented  an  Austrian  line. 
He  was  with  the  East  New  York  Shoe  Company,  and 
has  lately  represented  several  lines.  Now  he  is  sell- 
ing Strout  &  Stritter  shoes  in  New  York  City. 

EDWARD  STEBBINS 

This  is  another  E.  P.  Dodge  salesmen,  our  old 
friend  Ed  Stebbins.  After  having  the  Dodge  line 
he  went  out  to  Los  Angeles,  where  he  died  about  five 
years  ago. 

THOMAS  D.  HARLOW 

This  is  little  Thomas  D.  Harlow,  who  for  several 
years  in  the  past  was  with  Usher  &  Sons.  He  is  now 
still  active,  selling  for  Brockton  People's  Shoe  Com- 
pany and  the  Calumet  Shoe  Company.  Many  of 
the  old-timers  as  well  as  the  younger  shoe  men  know 
him  well. 

85 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

W.  M.  OAKMAN 

Now  we  have  another  of  the  old-timers,  and  you 
can  guess  who  it  is  —  but  who  would  say  it  was 
"Oakey,"  or  W.  M.  Oakman,  who  was  first  with 
J.  S.  Turner,  and  then  with  W.  L.  Douglas,  and 
then  formed  the  firm  of  Oakman  &  Low.  After- 
wards he  was  with  George  G.  Snow  and  with  J. 
E.  French,  also.  He  is  now  with  the'  Pels  Shoe 
Company,  Brockton,  and  is  president  of  the 
Boston  Shoe  Travelers'  Association.  Everybody 
knows  "Oakey,"  and  he  has  a  warm  place  in  all  of  our 
hearts. 

ROBERT  SPRUNT,  JR. 

Who  would  recognize  this  picture?  Well,  it  is 
the  only  real  poet  we  have  in  the  shoe  trade  —  we  be- 
lieve a  direct  descendant  of  Robert  Burns.  This  is 
Robert  Sprunt,  Jr.  He  is  best  remembered  as  the 
salesman  who  sold  Joseph  Caunt's  shoes  to  the  retail 
trade.  Now  he  is  selling  A.  Fisher  &  Son's  line.  We 
all  know  him  as  a  jolly  good  fellow  —  a  ready  wit 
and  a  cordial  good  friend. 

FRANK  ARMITAGE 

Frank  Armitage  will  be  well  remembered  by  many 
in  the  West,  where  he  was  selling  for  Williams-Knee- 
land  years  ago.  I  believe  he  has  been  in  politics  in 

86 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

the  late  years,  but  I  have  lost  track  of  him.     Does 
anybody  know  about  him? 

CHARLES  F.  SNOW 

Charles  F.  Snow  has  been  connected  with  the 
jobbing  trade  for  many  years,  but  may  be  better  re- 
membered as  of  the  firm  of  Irving  &  Snow.  Now  he 
is  manager  of  Smith  &  Herrick  of  Albany,  and  many 
of  his  old  traveling  friends  meet  him  frequently. 

N.  REDPATH 

We  have  here  an  old-timer  named  "Nute"  Red- 
path,  who  was  with  Redpath  Brothers,  and  traveled 
in  the  West.  Many  of  the  old  buyers  will  remember 
him.  He  died  about  fifteen  years  ago  in  Newton,  Mass. 

V 

TIM  HOGAN 

Here  was  a  prince.  How  well  we  remember  jolly 
Tim  and  mourned  his  death  in  1900!  He  had  friends 
every  place  he  went.  We  remember  him  best  with 
P.  Cogan  &  Co.  and  Blake-Allen  Company.  I  am 
pleased  to  publish  this  picture  and  show  his  good  face 
to  his  old  friends  in  the  South  and  elsewhere. 

D.  B.  MUNROE 

D.  B.  Munroe  was  well  known  all  through  New 
England  years  ago  when  he  sold  for  Baldwin  &  Lam- 

87 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

kin.  He  is  still  living  in  Middleboro,  Mass.,  hale  and 
hearty.  I  know  that  many  of  his  friends  will  be 
pleased  to  see  his  face  again. 

GEORGE  S.  DWINNELL 

Here  we  have  George  S.  Dwinnell.  He  has  been 
so  long  with  J.  J.  Grover  &  Sons  that  we  cannot  pic- 
ture him  selling  another  line;  in  fact,  he  has  been  so 
long  selling  the  same  line  that  he  looks  comfortable, 
and  every  one  is  glad  to  see  him  when  he  comes 
around  twice  a  year  to  get  his  sizes.  I  hear  he  began 
his  career  selling  shoes  for  Hunt,  Holbrook  &  Bar- 
bour,  Hartford,  Conn. 

CHARLES  F.  LUSCH 

Who  would  recognize  the  young  fellow  repre- 
sented in  this  picture?  But  Charlie  is  still  young,  al- 
though his  hair  is  gray.  He  has  been  selling  Hanan 
shoes  so  long  that  one  would  think  he  never  sold 
another  line,  and  I  guess  he  hasn't.  Good  boy, 
Charlie,  keep  it  up  for  years  to  come. 

F.  H.  BRADSTREET 

I  am  pleased  to  publish  this  picture  of  my  old 
friend,  familiarly  known  as  "Hope"  Bradstreet.  He 
was  best  known  when  he  sold  for  years  Curtis  & 
Wheeler's  line  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  For  a  while  he 
was  with  John  J.  Lattemann,  and  at  the  time  of  his 

88 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

death,  in  Indianapolis,  about  five  years  ago,  was  selling 
for  the  Rice  &  Hutchins  Chicago  house.  He  was  a  jolly 
good  old  fellow,  full  of  quaint  ways  and  sayings. 

S.  PRESTON  MOSES 

We  cannot  think  of  "Pres"  selling  any  line  but 
Edwin  Clapp's,  although  he  has  his  own  jobbing  line, 
but  I  remember  him  in  the  old  days  in  Washington, 
D.  C.,  when  he  was  in  the  commission  shoe  business, 
at  the  time  one  had  to  take  out  a  license  to  sell.  I 
well  remember  having  to  borrow  his  license  at  $5  per 
day  or  be  arrested.  We  are  all  glad  to  know  how 
successful  "Pres"  has  been  in  all  his  endeavors. 

HARRY  H.  RIPLEY 

Well,  Harry  was  a  nice  looking  boy  in  the  days  of 
those  side  whiskers,  and  he  has  not  got  over  it  yet. 
He  is  so  well  known  that  I  need  not  write  much,  only 
that  I  remember  him  as  being  with  Batchelder  & 
Lincoln,  J.  C.  Bennett  &  Barnard,  A.  F.  Smith,  Mrs. 
A.  R.  King,  and  now  with  the  L.  B.  Evans'  Son  Com- 
pany. We  are  all  glad  to  see  Harry,  even  if  he  now 
has  gray  hair  and  no  "sideburns." 

E.  M.  COLLINS 

Here  we  have  our  old  friend  E.  M.  Collins,  one  of 
the  best  of  the  old-timers.  He  was  with  Forbush  & 
Brown  of  Buffalo  forty-five  years  from  the  time  he 
started  in  the  shoe  business  until  F.  &  B.  went  out  of 

89 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING     SALESMEN 

business,  and  then  he  had  several  lines  and  worked 
hard  until  he  died,  about  six  years  ago,  on  the  train 
going  to  Buffalo.  He  was  high  up  in  Masonry, 
thirty-third  degree.  How  well  we  old  fellows  remem- 
ber him! 

CHARLES  I.  PETHERBRIDGE 

Charles  I.  Petherbridge  was  first  known  in  the 
South,  thirty-two  years  ago,  selling  for  Banister  & 
Tichnor  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  now  the  James  A.  Banister 
Company,  and  that  name  is  so  old  you  can  judge  how 
old  Charlie  is.  He  was  with  Banister  nineteen  years. 
I  have  lost  track  of  him  lately,  but  he  is  still  active 
selling  the  Felter  line  of  Newark. 

VI 

WICKLIFFE  A.  HILL 

Here  we  have  a  picture  of  "Wick"  Hill  —  not  an 
old  picture  as  I  remember  him  years  ago  when  he 
traveled  for  A.  E.  Nettleton,  in  the  Northwest,  with 
his  old  friend,  Dubois.  "Wick"  worked  in  A.  E. 
Nettleton's  retail  shoe  store,  Fulton,  N.  Y.,  in  1872-3, 
then  traveled  for  James  R.  Barrett,  of  Syracuse. 
When  Mr.  Nettleton  bought  out  the  Barrett  business 
in  1878,  W.  A.  went  along  as  part  owner  and  sales- 
man, traveling  until  1893,  when  he  bought  Gray 
Brothers  of  Syracuse,  and  consolidated  this  with 
Baker  &  Bowman,  making  the  Syracuse  Shoe  Manu- 

90 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

facturing  Company,  producing  women's  shoes.  You 
can  bet  he  is  as  lively  and  genial  as  ever.  Stop  off  at 
Syracuse  and  see  him,  you  old  fellows. 

A.  W.  DUBOIS 

I  had  a  hard  time  getting  this  picture,  for  his  wife 
did  not  want  to  give  it  up,  showing  what  a  handsome 
little  boy  he  was  years  ago,  but  "Duby"  is  still  on 
his  job,  and  good  looking.  I  remember  him  first 
with  J.  &  T.  Cousins  of  Brooklyn,  and  then,  after  a 
few  changes,  he  settled  down  selling  for  Charles  K. 
Fox  of  Haverhill,  where  he  is  now.  We  are  all  pleased 
to  know  of  his  success,  and  wish  him  lots  more. 
"Duby"  says  he's  been  selling  shoes  over  forty 
years.  Who  can  beat  that? 

HARRIS  M.  BARNES 

I  bet  he  was  pleased  with  that  tie  in  this  picture. 
Harry  started  in  the  shoe  business  with  the  Warren 
Boot  &  Shoe  Company,  and  he  was  for  years  with 
Burley  &  Stevens.  He  is  now  with  the  George  Melan- 
son  Shoe  Company  of  Lynn.  I  bet  every  one  of  those 
little  short  steps  he  made  to  sell  a  bill  meant  a  sale  of 
one  pair  of  shoes,  and  he  is  still  keeping  them  up. 
One  of  the  finest  men  on  the  road  is  Harry  Barnes. 

R.  E.  HARRISON 

I  hardly  dare  call  him  "Bob,"  but  every  one  in 
the  South  knows  "Bob"  Harrison.  I  believe  he  first 

91 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

started  with  Cosgrove,  and  then  with  M.  Felix  &  Co. 
But  he  has  been  so  long  with  Wolf  Brothers,  that  only 
the  oldest-timers  know  the  history  of  his  past  life. 

TILL  BUSH 

"Till"  was  first  with  his  brother  in  the  shoe  busi- 
ness, and  for  years  with  Stribley  &  Co.,  also  well 
known  as  one  of  the  firm  of  Sullivan,  Mead  &  Bush. 
Lately,  I  hear  he  has  retired  in  Cincinnati,  and  we 
learn  of  him  going  fishing  much. 

WALTER  E.  CRANDALL 

Walter  has  been  so  long  with  E.  P.  Reed  that  I 
don't  know  where  else  to  locate  him.  This  picture 
shows  him  when  he  was  young,  but  you  ought  to 
look  at  him  now. 

WM.  H.  CANNON 

Here  is  W.  H.  Cannon  whom  many  of  us  remem- 
ber as  long  with  Zeigler  Brothers  in  the  South,  and 
many  of  you  will  remember  these  whiskers. 

THOMAS  T.  MERRILL 

I  could  not  get  an  old  picture  of  Tom,  but  he  is 
the  same  little  Tom,  and  has  not  changed  any  from 
the  old  times  when  he  first  sold  J.  S.  Turner's  fine 
shoes.  Then,  I  believe,  he  went  with  J.  E.  Tilt  of 
Chicago.  Now  with  The  Regal  Shoe  Company,  and 
is  as  lively  as  ever  —  if  you  don't  believe  it,  ask  him. 

92 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

WILLIAM  CRAWFORD 

Will  Crawford  was  well  known  in  the  West  selling 
J.  S.  Turner's  shoes,  and  he  sold  a  lot  of  them  in  those 
days.  I  was  pleased  to  get  this  picture  from  Tom 
Merrill,  and  I  know  that  many  will  remember  this 
familiar  face,  although  he  died  about  fifteen  years  ago. 

VII 

ALBERT  GOULD 

Here  was  a  jolly  good  fellow,  and  although  I  can 
hardly  call  him  one  of  the  old-timers,  he  traveled  for 
some  years  in  the  Northwest  for  E.  P.  Dodge,  and  I 
know  many  of  his  old  friends  in  that  territory  will  be 
pleased  to  see  his  face  again.  He  died  in  Newbury- 
port  about  twelve  years  ago. 

GEORGE  A.  BACKUS 

George  has  been  so  long  traveling  in  the  South  for 
Laird,  Schober  &  Mitchell,  now  Laird,  Schober  & 
Co.,  that  you  cannot  locate  him  elsewhere;  but  who 
would  recognize  this  young  fellow  for  the  present 
George  ? 

C.  F.  OAKLEY 

First  with  Tibbetts  &  Couch,  then  went  South  for 
a  while  in  the  retail  business,  but  later  he  was  on 
the  road  selling  for  Faunce  &  Spinney.  This  picture 
was  taken  about  fifteen  years  ago,  but  now  those  gray 
hairs  are  very  becoming,  and  Charlie  is  still  young. 

93 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

A.  ERWIN  RANKIN 

Once  of  Hunt  &  Rankin  and  with  Marcey  &  Co., 
Hartford,  Conn.  Now  we  all  know  him  with  the 
Matchless  Shoe  Company,  selling  their  shoes  in  the 
South,  and  Erwin  sells  a  lot  of  them. 

FRED  W.  STANTON 

He  has  been  such  a  national  character  of  late  years 
that  he  needs  no  introduction,  for  he  is  now  the  able 
secretary  of  the  National  Shoe  Travelers'  Association 
and  the  Southern  Shoe  Salesmen's  Association.  As  a 
salesman,  I  remember  him  with  Hathaway,  Soule  & 
Harrington,  and  then  with  E.  P.  Dodge  of  Newbury- 
port.  He  now  calls  on  his  trade  with  Leonard  & 
Barrows  line.  Outside  of  those  sideburns  he  looks 
just  as  young  as  ever. 

JAMES  H.  MAYBURY 

Who  doesn't  know  Jim?  Although  he  spends 
most  of  his  time  in  New  York  City,  he  is  well  known 
in  the  middle  West.  I  will  not  attempt  to  give  a 
history  of  his  past  life,  but  first  remember  him  as  of 
the  firm  of  Maybury  &  Dana,  specialty  jobbers  in 
New  York.  Now  he  is  selling  for  Mitchel-Caunt 
Company,  Lynn,  and  he  sure  does  sell  some  shoes. 

94 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JOHN  L.  SAGE 

Here  indeed  is  a  picture  of  an  old-timer,  although 
this  is  a  recent  photo.  I  know  many  will  pleasantly 
remember  his  face.  I  remember  him  first  with  Ban- 
croft, Sage  &  Morse  of  Rochester.  Then  after  sev- 
eral changes  of  lines,  he  took  up  fire  insurance  in 
Rochester,  and  developed  into  one  of  the  largest  in 
his  line.  He  died  about  five  years  ago. 

JOHN  C.  NUGENT 

I  have  known  John  so  long  that  I  can  hardly  tell 
all  about  him,  and  it  is  just  as  well,  for  everybody 
knows  him.  This  photo  was  taken  in  1888.  He 
traveled  for  John  Kelly  for  twenty  years,  and  has 
been  with  Jerry  Menihan  for  several  years.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  this  picture  was  once  pub- 
lished over  John's  obituary  notice.  But  he's  still 
very  much  alive. 

J.    H.    COLBURN 

Here  we  have  our  old  friend,  Harry  Colburn.  I 
remember  Harry  when  he  was  with  Hathaway,  Soule 
&  Harrington,  then  with  J.  H.  Putnam  &  Co.,  and  he 
is  now  with  Hanan  &  Son,  selling  out  to  the  Coast. 
He  was  a  nice  young  man  from  this  picture,  and  he  is 
still  young,  for  he  was  recently  married.  Harry  and 
Frank  Colburn  are  brothers. 

95 


SKETCHES     OF     TRAVELLING     SALESMEN 

VIII 
JOHN  H.  HANAN 

We  now  can  see  how  John  Hanan  looked  when  he 
was  traveling  for  Hanan  &  Redish,  and  many  of  us 
old  boys  remember  him,  for  he  was  always  a  friend  of 
the  boys  as  he  is  to  this  day.  I  think  he  remembers 
the  time  we  "caned"  him  at  the  old  Sherman  house  in 
Chicago. 

GEORGE  W.  COOK 

Here  is  a  familiar  face  of  an  old-time  shoe  sales- 
man, George  W.  Cook,  or,  as  he  was  familiarly 
named,  G.  "Whiskers"  Cook.  He  traveled  for 
years  for  Stacy,  Adams  &  Co.,  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
where  he  was  well  known,  and  at  that  time  he  owned 
one  of  the  largest  shoe  stores  in  Omaha.  The  last  part 
of  his  traveling  was  for  Krippendorf  &  Dittman.  He 
died  several  years  ago  in  his  home  town  in  New  York 
State. 

J.  J.  CROMWELL 

Well,  see  who  is  here  —  J.  J.  Cromwell,  or  "little 
Jake."  There  were  few  so  well  known  and  liked  as 
Jake  when  he  traveled  in  the  middle  West  for  Sailer, 
Levin  &  Co.  of  Philadelphia.  After  they  went  out  of 
business  he  sold  several  times  to  New  York  City 
trade,  until  his  death  several  years  ago.  We  miss 
his  jolly  sayings  to  this  day. 

96 


'//  is  not  what  he  has,  nor  even  what  he  does, 
which  directly  expresses  the  worth  of  a  man,  but 
what  he  is."  —  AMI  EL 


XIII 


"A  reputation  for  good  judgment,  for  fair  dealing, 
for  truth,  and  for  rectitude  is  itself  a  fortune."  — BEECHER 


EB.Sfocum 


G.H.  White 


Thos*  £  C.  Johnson,  v 


CApen  Brown 


.  S  *Tread  we// 


XIV 


'Every  traveler  has  a  home  of  his  own,  and  he 
learns  to  appreciate  it  the  more  from  his  wander- 
ings." —  DICKENS 


Arrhur  H,  (Jenkins 


Arthur  r/.Jenk/ns 
Robert  L  Summers 


XV 


I  have,  beside  all  this,  a  great  love 'for  the  past." — VON  HUMBOLDT 


XVI 


'Opportunity  makes  us  known  to  others;  but  more 
to  ourselves. "  —  LA  ROUGH EFOUCAULD 


Howard  P/dffs 


Wm. 


J.  A.  Warrenc/er 


Charle  s  Brand/nan 


A.L.  Chase 


G&orye  Gregory 


XVII 


"  The    heart    to    conceive,    the    understanding    to 
diieci,  or  the  hand  to  execute."  -—  JUNIUS 


XVIII 


"  There  is  always  room  for  a  man  of  force,  and  he 
makes  room  for  many."  —  EMERSON 


XIX 


"  The  Talent  of  Success  is  nothing  more  than  doing 
what  you  can  do  well  —  without  a  thought  of 
fame."  —  LONGFELLOW 


XX 


"  It  is  easy  to  say  how  we  love  new  friends,  and 
what  we  think  of  them,  but  words  can  never  trace  out  all 
the  fibres  that  'knit  us  to  the  old." — GEORGE  ELIOT 


XXI 


'Sincerity,  truth,  faithfulness,  come  into  the   very 
essence  of  friendship."  —  CHANNING 


XXII 


"Memory  is  not  so  brilliant  as  hope,  but  it  is  more 
beautiful  and  a  thousand  times  more  true." — PRENTICE 


XXIII 


XXIV 


"  The  curtains  of  Yesterday  drop  down,  the  cur- 
tains of  To-morrow  roll  up;  but  Yesterday  and  To- 
morrow both  an'.'1''  —  CARLYLE 


I 

H.E.Decatur. 


T-H.Chamberf/n 


XXV 


"Let  me  be  remembered  for  the  gentler  things  of  the  heart,  rather  than  for  the  mere 
material  of  such  success  as  may  have  been  my  lot, " 


XXVI 


"  What^s  a  year,  forsooth?     Or  a  decade?     Or  even  a  lifetime,  since  memory's  on 
her  eternal  throne?" 


XXVIi 


"  The  change  of  face  betokens  passing  years.     It  is  a  wise  providence  that  keeps  the 
heart  young  and  thus  conquers  years. " 


XXVIII 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

NATT  F.  STEVENS 

Here  we  have  Natt  in  his  younger  days,  and  judg- 
ing from  this  picture,  he  was  a  rival  of  Clare  Aubert 
Benedict.  I  remember  him  first  with  the  old  firm  of 
Emery  &  Holmes,  of  Biddeford,  Me.,  and  then  Eddy 
&  Webster,  Rochester.  He  traveled  a  number  of 
years  for  James  A.  Banister  &  Co.,  Newark,  N.  J.,  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  but  at  times  he  stopped  off  in  Chi- 
cago to  see  a  few  friends,  but  that  is  another  story. 
Of  course  we  all  know  he  was  with  Faunce  & 
Spinney.  Now  with  Dunn  McCarthy  &  Co. 

HERBERT  M.  PULKER 


Here  is  Herbert  M.  Pulker,  or  "Bert,"  as  we  all 
know  him.  I  can't  say  he  is  one  of  the  "old-timers," 
but  he  has  been  on  earth  quite  a  time,  and  this  photo 
shows  him  when  he  was  a  young  man.  I  remember 
him  first  when  he  was  a  clerk  with  A.  Richardson  & 
Brother,  Janesville,  Wis.  He  began  his  traveling 
career  with  the  old  firm  of  A.  W.  Clapp  &  Co.,  Boston 
jobbers,  but  he  has  been  so  long  with  Howard  & 
Foster  that  we  almost  forget  the  past. 

FRANK  QUIN 

Frank  Quin  is  another  member  of  the  Boyden 
firm  that  has  retired  and  is  on  "easy  street."  I  re- 

113 


SKECTHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

member  him  first  with  Banister  and  then  with  Boy- 
den.  He  traveled  mostly  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  He 
is  the  same  big-hearted  man  as  ever,  and  likes  to 
meet  the  old  boys. 

HERBERT  SOMERS 

Henry  Somers  was  locally  known  with  Drew- 
Selby,  and  he  was  loved  by  every  one  that  he  met  so- 
cially or  in  business,  and  his  death,  after  a  long  sick- 
ness, was  mourned  by  all  his  friends. 


GEORGE  AHERNS 

George  Aherns,  of  Boyden  Shoe  Co.,  trav- 
eled for  years  for  that  firm,  making  the  large  cities  in 
the  middle  West,  and  also  making  a  fortune,  for  he 
has  retired  and  doesn't  have  to  worry  about  shoes. 

JOHN  G.  LUSCH 

John  G.  Lusch  can  only  be  remembered  as  with 
Hanan  &  Son,  and  I  don't  dare  quote  figures  as  to 
how  many  millions  he  sold  for  that  firm.  He  re- 
tired some  time  ago  and  we  were  all  deeply  grieved 
to  learn  of  his  death  the  past  winter. 

114 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

IX 

WALLACE  T.  GROW 

Wallace  T.  Grow,  an  old-time  traveling  sales- 
man, well  known  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Pennsylvania 
for  about  twenty-five  years  up  to  1905,  when  he 
died  at  his  home  in  Newton,  Mass. 

One  of  the  first  lines  that  he  carried  for  many  years 
was  the  Stoneham  Co-operative  Shoe  Company,  of 
Stoneham,  Mass.  Afterward  he  went  to  Vinton  & 
Jenkins,  Stoneham,  Mass.  After  some  time  he  went 
with  C.  Grose  &  Son,  Ridge  Hill,  Mass.,  makers  of 
medium  fine  men's  welted  shoes. 

He  traveled  for  them  many  years  until  the  firm 
went  out  of  business. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Boot 
and  Shoe  Travelers'  League,  and  a  good  friend  of  all 
Boston  shoe  salesmen  traveling  in  his  territory. 
His  face  will  be  recognized  by  a  large  circle  of  friends 
still  living. 

OLIVER  M.  FISHER 

Oliver  Fisher  is  a  man  who  has  graced  the  pro- 
fession of  shoe  salesmanship  and  crowned  his  efforts 
with  fine  success.  He  has  been  in  the  shoe  business 
since  1875  —  with  M.  A.  Packard  Company  since 
1883.  He  is  now  president  of  that  company.  By 
nature  given  to  leadership,  he  has  always  played  a 
prominent  part  in  whatever  activities  engaged.  To 

115 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

day  he  is  active  not  only  in  the  shoe  business  but  in 
many  forms  of  charitable,  church,  club  and  fraternal 
work  and  varied  business  interests.  We  find  him 
nearly  every  day  at  the  Packard  Boston  office,  60 
South  Street,  an  honored  and  respected  member  of 
the  craft  of  shoe  men. 

JAMES  D.  SHERIDAN 

Who  would  believe  this  picture  to  be  of  little 
Jimmie  Sheridan  or  "Phil"  Sheridan  as  he  is  some- 
times known.  Well,  he  has  been  selling  P.  Cogan 
&  Sons'  boys  shoes  so  long  that  he  looks  like  one 
of  their  little  gent's  shoes. 

Jimmie  is  past  president  of  the  Boston  Shoe 
Travelers'  Association  and  one  of  the  very  popular 
"boys."  Lives  in  Randolph,  Mass. 

FRANK  C.  KELLOGG 

Here  we  have  our  old  college  chum,  Frank  Kel- 
logg. He  has  been  lost  to  sight,  but  to  memory 
dear,  for  several  years  and  we  are  glad  to  see  his  face 
again. 

Frank  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  selling  force 
of  D.  Armstrong,  where  he  put  in  the  best  efforts 
of  his  life.  Then  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Fonda,  Kellogg  &  Snow.  His  last  appearance  was 
selling  for  Krippendorf-Dittman.  Later  he  was  in 
the  hotel  business  in  Detroit.  He  died  last  winter. 

116 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

B.  F.  PAGE 

B.  Frank  Page  —  you  wouldn't  know  him  from 
this  picture  —  started  with  G.  Lamkin  Company, 
then  was  with  G.  W.  Herrick  &  Co.,  and  has  been 
with  M.  A.  Packard  Company  for  a  long  time,  cover- 
ing the  middle  West  and  Pennsylvania. 

J.  B.  McCuNE 

"Jack"  McCune  —  everybody  who  has  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  shoes  on  the  Pacific  Coast  for  the 
past  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  knows  "Jack" 
McCune.  He  has  sold  many  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  worth  of  shoes  out  there  and  is  still  at  itr 
and  we  all  wish  him  the  best  of  luck.  This  picture 
was  taken  out  in  Colorado  forty  years  ago,  whea 
Jack  was  a  slim  youth.  Started  shoe  business  with 
J.  J.  Hutcheson,  Greenville,  Pa. 

COL.  A.  C.  WALKER 

One  of  the  oldest  traveling  men  in  the  U.  S.  - 
born  in  1833.  After  leaving  school  in  Boston,  went 
to  work  for  Penniman  Foster  &  Russell  on  Pearl 
Street.  He  was  continually  a  shoe  salesman  until 
1890.  His  last  active  work  was  with  Lilly  Bracket. 
He  then  located  on  his  Bartlett  pear  ranch  at  North 
Yakima,  Wash. 

117 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING    SALESMEN 

F.  J.  DOAN 

F.  J.  Doan  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Pingree's 
traveling  force,  but  left  them  for  a  while  going  into 
the  coal  business  in  Chicago,  but  I  guess  it  was  cold 
business,  for  I  hear  he  is  back  on  his  job  on  his  old 
territory. 

E.  J.  PIERCE 

E.  J.  Pierce  is  so  well  known  that  I  need  not 
write  his  life.  He  is  still  active  in  his  Chicago  office, 
where  he  sells  the  local  trade  his  several  lines. 

Some  may  not  recognize  this  picture,  as  it  was 
taken  years  ago.  I  don't  dare  say  how  old  he  is, 
for  he  is,  so  to  speak,  a  twin  brother  of  the  writer. 

X 

W.  H.  STACY 

Mr.  Stacy  is  known  everywhere  as  the  head  of  the 
men's  fine  shoemaking  house,  Stacy- Adams  Com- 
pany, Brockton.  He  was  for  a  good  many  years 
one  of  the  best  known  and  most  popular  of  the  "old 
guard"  of  traveling  shoe  salesmen.  He  started 
traveling  for  James  M.  Burt  &  Co.,  of  New  York 
and  Gray  Bros,  of  Syracuse,  in  1866.  His  friend 
and,  later,  partner,  Harry  L.  Adams,  started  with  the 
same  firms  at  the  same  time.  In  1875  the  firm  of 
Stacy,  Adams  &  Jones  was  formed  (later  Stacy-Adams 
Company).  Mr.  Stacy,  respected  and  esteemed  by 

118 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

all,  lives  quietly  at  his  home  in  Braintree.  He  has 
traveled  some  each  year  up  to  1916,  visiting  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  customers.  He  was  seventy- 
three  years  old  last  August. 

HARRY  L.  ADAMS 

Many  old-time  friends  will  be  most  glad  to  see 
this  picture  of  Harry  Adams,  who  died  in  1897.  He 
belonged  to  the  "old  guard"  of  traveling  salesmen, 
sure  enough,  and  was  immensely  popular.  He  began 
in  1866,  as  stated  above,  with  W.  H.  Stacy  and  con- 
tinued as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Stacy-Adams 
until  1886,  when  he  retired. 

CLARENCE  P.  WAIDE 

We  are  glad  to  have  Clarence  Waide's  old-time 
picture  on  the  same  page  with  Mr.  Stacy  and  Mr. 
Adams,  for  he  has  been  with  this  house  since  Febru- 
ary 1882,  never  missing  a  trip  —  likely  a  record  for 
years  of  service  with  one  house.  Now  a  member  of 
the  firm  and  the  possessor  of  the  unbounded  esteem 
and  respect  of  every  person  who  ever  knew  him. 

HARRY  H.  GRAY 

The  late  Harry  Gray  belongs  in  any  list  of  veteran, 
old-time,  "old  guard"  shoe  salesmen.  He  was  a 
great  friend  of  Mr.  Stacy,  Harry  Adams  and  others 
of  "the  boys"  of  a  generation  ago.  He  is  best 

119 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

remembered  as  a  shoe  manufacturer  in  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  business  he  established  years  ago  is 
now  widely  known  as  the  successful  "H.  H.  Gray's 
Son,"  carried  on  by  his  son,  John  S.  Gray,  at  Syra- 
cuse. 

HUBERT  H.  GARDINER 

We  all  remember  this  grand  man.  He  was  one 
of  the  best  salesmen  that  ever  packed  a  trunk,  and 
he  knew  how  to  make  shoes,  too.  He  started  a  fac- 
tory in  Philadelphia,  then  moved  to  New  York,  form- 
ing the  firm  of  Gardiner  &  Estes.  Then  we  find  him 
of  the  firm  of  Wichert  &  Gardiner.  His  sudden 
death,  at  the  height  of  his  success  a  few  years  ago, 
was  a  great  loss  to  the  shoe  trade. 

J.  P.  SMITH 

J.  P.  Smith,  head  of  the  J.  P.  Smith  Shoe  Com- 
pany, of  Chicago,  made  his  first  trip  in  1868  — 
forty-eight  years  ago,  so  he  goes  up  to  near  the 
head  of  the  class.  That  first  trip  was  for  R.  P. 
Smith  &  Son,  of  Bloomington,  and  was  in  the  whole- 
sale trade.  Mr.  Smith  still  sells  shoes  —  for  the 
J.  P.  Smith  Shoe  Company  —  but  his  customers 
mostly  call  at  the  factory.  William  H.  Stacy  of 
Stacy-Adams  was  one  of  the  men  selling  shoes  on 
the  road  when  Mr.  Smith  started  in  1868.  A  para- 
graph from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Smith's  is  interesting 
reading: 

120 


11  Fill  to    the    niter  most  rim    the    cup    of  everlasting 
memory  and  pledge  you  all —  our  friends!" — ANON. 


/^f us-son.  J.  A.  C.  Emerson 


XXIX 


Time  has  laid  his  hand  upon   my  heart,  gently,   not 
smiting  it.  —  LONGFELLOW. 


XXX 


Such  is  the  patriot' s  boast,  where  e'er  we  roam, 
Hjs  first,  lest  cLunlry  ei'cr  is  at  home. 

—  OLIVER  GOLDSMITH 


XXXI 


"  Your  face,  my  thane,  is  as  a  book,  where  men  may 
read  strange  matters.  —  SHAKESPEARE. 


XXXJi 


A  wit's  a  feather,  and  a    chief   a    rod; 
An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God. 

—  ALEXANDER  POPE 


XXXlli 


"Oh  Life!  how  pleasant  is  thy  morning." 

— ROBERT  BURNS. 


Frank  J.  Brac//ey 


C  Carpenter 


" Tomorrow*  and  tomorrow,  and  tomorrow, 
Creeps  hi  this  petty  pace  from  day  to  day." 
—  SHAKESPEARE. 


XXXV 


"On  his  bold  visage  middle  age 
1 1  ad  slightly  pressed  its  signet  sage." 
—  SIR  WALTER   SCOTT. 


Walter  Scott 
T.  J.  Yates 
J.  T.  Fitzpatrick 
H.  B.  Schweitzer 
Jack  Henry 


Maurice  Kornsand 
Ralph  J.  Saxe,  Fred  C.  Church, 
Billy  Martin,  Clendennin,  Jr. 
R.  L.  Wall 
H.  Goller,  Fred  Wesner 


XXXVI 


6. 

7. 

8. 
9. 
10  Herman  Schocke 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

"In  my  time,  I  have  sold  every  class  of  merchants 
dealing  in  shoes,  from  the  smallest  to  the  largest  re- 
tailer; from  the  smallest  to  the  largest  jobbers  in 
this  country;  I  have  displayed  samples  in  cross- 
road towns  on  the  top  of  sugar  and  salt  barrels; 
I  have  displayed  samples  in  the  best  hotels  in  the 
United  States;  I  have  made  the  wagon  trips,  the 
freight-train  trips,  and  of  late  years  a  Pullman  is  none 
too  good  for  me.  See  no  reason  now  why  I  could 
not  cover  a  regular  route,  if  it  were  necessary." 

JIM  Cox 

Jim  (nobody  calls  him  James)  is  an  old  "wheel- 
horse"  -  says  so  himself.  Used  to  make  trips 
with  Joel  Page.  Mrs.  Cox  says  this  photo  of  Jim 
ought  to  fill  the  bill,  for  he  was  (she  says)  then 
about  as  homely  a  man  as  lived  through  the  war.  The 
picture  is  thirty-one  years  old,  and  makes  Jim  look 
like  Prince  Katamuro.  Jim  sells  shoes  for  Wright 
&  Peters  and  isn't  as  old  as  he  tries  to  make  out, 
and  can  travel  after  an  order  as  fast  as  the  best 
of  'em.  Lives  in  Rochester. 

CLINTON  C.  ROBINSON 

Clint  began  his  career  traveling  from  Boston, 
but  he  migrated  to  Cincinnati  so  many  years  ago 
that  he  has  almost  forgotten  Boston.  No  dealer 

129 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

in  the  South  needs  an  introduction  to  him.  He  was 
at  one  time  a  manufacturer  in  Cincinnati,  but  now 
we  find  him  with  hts  old  love,  still  selling  shoes  in 
the  South. 

T.  FRANK  METCALFE 

Frank  was  so  long  with  Boyden  of  Newark  that 
it  is  hard  to  remember  him  selling  any  other  line, 
and  if  he  should  ever  stop  traveling,  all  his  friends 
will  miss  him.  Lives  in  comfort  and  happiness  in 
Newark.  Picture  taken  years  ago. 

XI 

W.  E.  GERRISH 

Every  dealer  in  New  England  knows  "Pink" 
Gerrish  and  when  they  saw  that  "Pink"  come  to  town 
they  knew  they  had  to  buy  shoes  from  P.  J.  Harney. 
Now  he  is  with  Hoag  &  Walden. 

A.  M.  CENTER 

This  photo  of  A.  M.  Center  was  taken  in  1881, 
the  year  he  started  on  the  road.  He  traveled  thirty- 
three  years,  then  ill  health  compelled  him  to  quit. 
He  lives  in  Grand  Rapids  and  we  wouldn't  be  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  he  had  again  heard  "the  call  of 
the  grip." 

130 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

E.  H.  STETSON 

Here  is  "Ed"  Stetson,  one  of  the  best-known 
and  deeply  esteemed  traveling  shoe  men  in  America 
— incidentally,  he  is  president  of  the  Stetson  Shoe 
Company.  This  picture  was  taken  over  forty  years 
ago  when  Ezra  H.  was  twenty-one  —  some  boy, 
too,  wasn't  he?  He  came  from  Maine,  worked  for 
H.  B.  Reed  in  the  factory  at  South  Weymouth, 
Mass.,  for  seven  years,  then  with  A.  C.  Heald  he 
started  the  Stetson  Shoe  Company,  twenty-nine 
years  ago.  He  has  traveled  twenty-eight  years. 

E.    S.  WlLLMARTH 

E.  S.  has  sold  shoes  on  the  road  for  thirty-six 
years  —  started  with  C.  M.  Henderson  in  1876, 
inside,  and  went  out  in  1880.  Has  been  with  Dag- 
gett,  Bassett  &  Hills,  Sidwell-DeWindt,  J.  P.  Smith, 
Tilt-Kenney,  Regal,  and  is  now  with  John  Ebberts. 
Covered  the  middle  West  always,  until  his  present 
connection,  which  includes  eastern  territory. 

HUGH  M.  DEYO 

This  picture  of  well-known  Hugh  Deyo  was 
taken  twenty-four  years  ago  when  he  was  with 
G.  &  D.  Silver.  He  began  with  Dake  &  Hamilton, 
and  has  been  with  Ziegler  Bros,  for  seventeen  years. 

131 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

C.  R.  BEACH 

You  can  hardly  imagine  him  a  regular  drummer 
of  shoes,  but  he  surely  was,  for  I  remember  him 
with  Adams  &  Pettingel  and  with  J.  F.  Swain  - 
"Swain's  Solid,  Serviceable  Shoes."  Can  you 
imagine  such  a  big  fellow  selling  little  shoes? 
Now  a  prominent  Boston  jobber.  You  will  find 
him  now  at  his  Boston  place  of  business. 

B.  F.  WETHERBY 

Here  is  a  real  old-timer  sure  enough.  B.  F. 
has  sold  shoes  on  the  road  for  forty-five  years  — 
think  of  it!  Started  with  P.  Ware.  At  various 
times  B.  F.  has  sold  for  Edwin  C.  Burt,  Lewis  A. 
Crossett,  Goodger  &  Naylor,  and  for  the  past 
twenty-four  years  has  represented  Charles  K.  Fox 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  greet  you,  old  friend, 
a  tried  and  true  representative  of  the  "old  school!" 
Long  may  you  wave! 

CHARLES  A.  MCCARTHY 

Mr.  McCarthy  is  widely  known  as  the  presi- 
dent of  Dunn  &  McCarthy,  the  extensive  shoe 
manufacturers  of  Auburn,  New  York.  He  began 
traveling  in  1876  for  Dunn,  Salmon  &  Co.,  of  Syra- 
cuse. Mr.  Dunn  of  this  concern  afterwards  became 

132 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

Mr.  McCarthy's  partner  in  Dunn  &  McCarthy. 
Dunn,  Salmon  &  Co.  had  the  Auburn  prison  shoe 
contract,  and  in  1889,  when  the  state  abolished 
the  contract  system,  a  women's  factory  was  started 
by  Mr.  Dunn  and  Mr.  McCarthy  —  the  beginning 
of  the  present  great  business.  Mr.  Dunn  died 
about  three  years  ago.  Mr.  McCarthy  continued 
as  a  salesman  from  1876  until  Mr.  Dunn  died,  cov- 
ering a  period  of  about  thirty-seven  years.  After 
the  first  two  or  three  years  he  sold  the  large  retail 
and  jobbing  trade,  the  very  cream  of  both  branches. 
Mr.  McCarthy's  personal  sales  since  1900  ran  to 
the  amount  of  several  million  dollars  a  year,  one  of 
the  largest,  if  not  the  largest,  volumes  written  in  this 
country  by  any  salesman.  Needless  to  say,  Mr. 
McCarthy  is  one  of  the  most  respected  shoe  men 
in  the  country. 

C.  E.  BAIRD 

Thirty  summers  and  probably  as  many  winters 
have  passed  over  the  head  of  C.  E.  Baird  since  this 
picture  was  first  taken.  He  has  been  on  the  road 
all  that  time  and  is  good  for  a  half  century  more. 
During  this  period  he  has  successively  and  suc- 
cessfully represented  Reed  &  Classon,  Gibby  & 
Allen,  Myron  L.  Thomas  and  M.  A.  Packard  Com- 
pany. 

133 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XII 

GEORGE  L.  STARKS 

George  Starks  is  one  of  the  veteran  shoe  sales- 
men that  it  is  a  delight  to  know,  and  to  know  him 
is  to  esteem  and  honor  him.  He  started  in  this 
profession  February  15,  1885,  with  Aaron  Claflin 
&  Co.,  and  saw  service  successively  with  John  W. 
Heart  &  Co.,  Waverley  School  Shoe  Company, 
Preston  B.  Keith  Shoe  Company,  then  five  years 
with  George  Strong  Company,  and  again  with  P.  B. 
Keith  where  he  now  is.  George  was  president  of  the 
Southern  Shoe  Salesmen's  Association  in  1913-1914. 

E.  M.  DANIELS 

E.  M.  began  his  career  on  the  road  for  Charles 
A.  Raymond,  a  jobber  of  men's  shoes.  This  was 
over  thirty  years  ago.  This  picture  is  a  corker. 
You'd  never  know  it,  would  you,  for  E.  M.  Daniels? 
He  went  South  for  M.  A.  Packard  for  twenty  years. 
Now  with  Three  K  Shoe  Co.  of  Stoughton. 

J.  RUSH  GREEN 

Rush  has  been  out  of  selling  shoes  so  long  that 
he  has  almost  forgotten  all  about  it,  but  he  is  helping 
the  game  along  by  selling  the  shoe  factories  racks; 
and  some  boy  pushing  shoe  racks  around  the  factory 
may,  some  day,  be  the  big  shoe  salesman  that  J. 
Rush  was.  He  is  a  brother-in-law  of  Preston  Moses. 

134 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING    SALESMEN 
W.   J.    ST.    LOUIS 

I  don't  think  we  need  go  further  than  P.  Cogan 
to  know  whom  Bill  has  sold  shoes  for.  He  succeeded 
Tim  Hogan  with  the  line  and  has  always  traveled 
South.  Bill  has  grown  some  since  this  picture 
was  taken. 

GEORGE  T.  CHASE 

Every  one  South  knows  George,  so  there  is  no 
need  of  going  back  in  ancient  history;  but  the  trade 
all  knows  Richard  &  Brennan's  shoes  when  George 
comes  and  he  has  not  grown  thin  over  it.  He 
never  changes  —  same  old  likeable  George. 


A.  L.  GREENWOOD 

"Al  Greenwood  is  one  of  the  most  popular  men 
that  ever  sold  shoes,  as  witness  his  presidency  of 
the  Boston  Shoe  Travelers'  Association  for  two 
terms  and  last  year  was  president  of  the  National 
Shoe  Travelers'  Association.  As  you  will  note  by 
this  picture  Al  was  a  brave  soldier,  out  in  Newton, 
Mass.  —  member  of  the  Claflin  Guards,  in  his 
blooming  youth  —  back  in  1886.  Al  sells  shoes 
out  west  for  Williams-Kneeland,  and  has  been  on 
the  road  nearly  thirty  years. 

135 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

LAWRENCE  B.  CUBBISON 

"Cubby"  began  his  road  career  at  the  tender 
age  of  seventeen  years.  This  picture  was  taken 
at  that  time.  He  has  been  traveling  twenty-eight 
years,  so  you  can  figure  out  his  age  for  yourself  if 
you  are  good  at  addition.  Started  for  J.  T.  Wood 
Company,  then  with  Lilly-Brackett  for  nine  years, 
and  for  past  sixteen  years  has  been  with  Preston 
B.  Keith  Shoe  Company. 


W.  S.  BACON 

"Win"  Bacon  has  traveled  for  twenty-five  years 
—  seven  years  with  Chipman  &  Calley,  eighteen 
years  with  M.  A.  Packard.  So  he  qualifies  as  one 
of  the  veterans  of  the  road  whom  we  are  glad  to 
include  in  this  galaxy  of  representative  salesmen. 
Recently  went  with  Knox  Shoe  Co.  and  Rochester 
Shoe  Co. 

DAVID  R.  GOODIN 

Dave  started  with  Lamkin  &  Foster,  and  has  for 
years  been  with  M.  A.  Packard.  We  all  know  he 
is  a  live  wire  —  a  true  salesman,  quiet,  unostenta- 
tious, loyal  —  we  all  think  a  great  deal  of  D.  R. 

136 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XIII 

E.  F.  SAWYER 

Many  of  us  remember  Col.  Bob  Sawyer,  although 
we  have  not  seen  him  in  the  shoe  district  for  several 
years.  He  traveled  South  for  the  old  firm  of  Alex. 
Torrey  and  then  Torrey,  Curtis  &  Terrill.  He  retired 
from  the  shoe  business  several  years  ago,  and  lives  in 
Newton,  Mass. 

HARRY  P.  LYNCH 

Harry  has  been  on  the  road  for  Howard  &  Foster 
since  April  1,  1893,  a  period  of  twenty- three  years, 
so  that  lets  him  into  the  select  circle.  He  travels 
parts  of  Illinois,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. Is  a  brother  of  Hector  E.  Lynch. 

ARTHUR  L.  BROOKS 

Another  handsome  and  genial  gentleman,  Arthur 
Brooks,  of  Wellesley,  Mass.,  and  the  Stetson  Shoe 
Company.  Been  with  Stetson  sixteen  years. 
Nine  years  with  D.  A.  Caldwell  &  Co.,  and  two  years 
with  H.  B.  Reed,  before  coming  to  Stetson.  Al- 
ways in  Dixie  Land.  A  brother  of  Charles  J.  Brooks. 

W.  I.  KENDALL 

Will  Kendall  does  not  resemble  this  picture 
these  days.  He  is  better  looking  now.  I  remember 
him  first  as  selling  Herrick  's  "Hard  Hitters"  for  years. 
He  is  now  with  Thomas  G.  Plant  Company  for  life. 

137 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

GEORGE  H.  WILKINS 

George  Wilkins  has  been  with  George  E.  Keith 
for  thirty  years  —  twenty-nine  on  the  road,  covering 
various  parts  of  the  country.  One  of  the  greatest 
salesmen  the  shoe  trade  has  produced.  Now  travels 
the  large  cities  in  the  East  and  middle  West. 

HARRY  D.  DODGE 

Harry  D.  Dodge  is  of  the  famous  family  of  shoe 
men  of  that  name.  Started  traveling  for  his  uncle, 
the  late  Nathan  D.  Dodge,  about  1885,  and  later 
traveled  for  his  own  firm,  Dodge  Bros.,  of  New- 
buryport,  Mass.  Since  1897,  his  selling  work  has 
been  largely  in  the  jobbing  trade.  A  gentleman  in 
very  truth,  whom  we  all  respect  and  honor. 


J.  RALPH  BAKER 

Here's  Ralph  Baker,  one  of  the  heavy-fire  guns 
of  Churchill  &  Alden  and  incidentally  the  pride  and 
joy  of  that  dear  East  Bridgewater,  where  he  has  a 
baronial  mansion  and  estate.  Ralph  is  all  right. 
Brother  of  Wallace  D.  Baker.  Son  of  M.  F.  Baker. 

138 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

F.  T.  DEXTER 

Was  with  Burley  &  Usher  in  1897,  and  with 
Chas.  K.  Fox.  Then  he  was  in  the  jobbing  business 
in  Minneapolis  with  Glomsted.  He  now  has  an 
office  in  Minneapolis  representing  Harrison  Bar- 
ton of  Chicago.  One  of  the  well-known  northwestern 
salesmen. 

E.  E.  GLOMSTED 

Was  in  the  retail  business  in  Minnesota  until 
our  old  friend  Gene  Baldwin  discovered  him;  then 
he  started  traveling  for  Burley  &  Usher  in  1890, 
where  he  remained  until  his  lamented  death  in  1912. 

F.  M.  BARKER 

Frank  Barker  has  been  selling  shoes  for  thirty 
years.  He  was  first  with  the  American  Shoe  Com- 
pany and  Feary's  boys'  school  shoes  (the  latter  were 
the  first  advertised  boys'  shoes).  Then  with  Aaron 
F.  Smith,  then  with  Hazen  B.  Goodrich  and  Frank 
E.  Hutchinson.  For  the  past  seventeen  years  with 
Thomas  G.  Plant  Company.  Lives  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

XIV 

JOHN  S.  TREADWELL 

John  Treadwell's  active  selling  life  covers  forty 
years.  Was  president  of  the  New  York  Shoe  Manu- 

139 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

facturing  Company,  and  sold  their  goods  on  the 
road.  Has  traveled  for  J.  F.  Swain  &  Co.,  Dalton 
Shoe,  G.  W.  Herrick  Shoe  Company.  He  is  now 
with  the  last-named  house  and  has  been  for  fifteen 
years,  and  covers  a  part  of  New  England.  One 
of  the  "grand  old  men"  of  the  road. 

GEORGE  H.  WHITE 

George  White  has  sold  shoes  en  route  for 
thirty-five  years.  Was  with  Hudson  River  Shoe 
Manufacturing  Company  nine  years.  Then  with 
Charles  Faust  of  Havre  de  Grace,  Maryland,  for 
a  year,  then  took  the  Charles  K.  Fox  line,  and  also 
carried  the  R.  T.  Wood  line  for  thirteen  years. 
Still  sells  the  Fox  line.  Several  years  ago  established 
the  Griffin- White  Shoe  Company  in  Brooklyn, 
where  he  is  to-day. 

E.  B.  SLOCUM 

Chicago  is  the  headquarters  of  E.  B.  Slocum, 
but  we  see  him  in  Boston  frequently.  E.  B.  has 
traveled  since  February  2,  1885.  Started  with 
C.  H.  Fargo  &  Co.,  then  with  R.  P.  Smith  &  Sons. 
Went  with  Thompson  Bros,  in  1894,  and  continued 
with  this  line  until  this  winter,  when  he  became 
associated  with  the  Dalton  Company,  the  new 
Brockton  concern.  A  man  esteemed  and  respected 
by  everybody. 

140 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

L.  R.  RECORD 

L.  R.  Record  first  went  on  the  road  in  1892, 
for  Sharood  Shoe  Company,  and  continued  with 
them  until  1909,  when  he  went  with  Burley  &  Ste- 
vens; and  has  continued  with  this  line  ever  since. 
Lives  in  St.  Paul,  spends  summers  in  Boston  and 
Onset  Bay,  Mass. 

J.  J.  KALTENBRUN 

Jimmie  Kaltenbrun,  vice-president  of  the  Na- 
tional Shoe  Travelers'  Association,  is  one  of  the 
"  live  wires  "  of  the  middle  West.  Travels  for  Charles 
A.  Eaton  Company,  and  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
boys  on  the  road. 

W.  T.  YORK 

W.  T.  has  sold  the  same  line  of  shoes  for  the 
past  twenty-two  years  —  Bliss  &  Perry  of  New- 
buryport.  The  firm  name  when  he  started  was 
N.  D.  Dodge  &  Bliss  Company,  then  became  Dodge, 
Bliss  &  Perry,  and  a  few  years  ago  Bliss  &  Perry. 
He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  shoe  salesmen  in  the 
Oklahoma  territory,  then  wild  and  wooly.  Now 
travels  Colorado,  Utah,  Wyoming,  New  Mexico, 
Arizona,  El  Paso  and  Amarillo.  Lives  in  Denver. 

141 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

CAPEN  BROWN 

Capen  traveled  West  years  ago  with  slippers. 
Lately  has  been  in  New  England  and  we  have  not 
seen  much  of  him. 

FRED  J.  VAN  SICKLE 

Here  is  one  of  the  Ohio  boys  —  Fred  J.  Van 
Sickle  of  Columbus.  This  picture  was  taken  in 
1894  when  Fred  was  with  J.  S.  Nelson.  He  was 
later  with  Helming,  McKenzie  Shoe  Company, 
and  for  the  past  few  years  has  represented  the 
Neenah  Shoe  Company  and  J.  F.  Budd.  He  was 
the  first  president  of  the  Ohio  Shoe  Travelers' 
Association. 

THOS.  E.  C.  JOHNSON 

Hello,  Tommy,  when  did  you  look  like  this  pic- 
ture? Must  have  been  about  twenty- two  years  ago, 
when  you  started  on  the  road  for  Packard  &  Field. 
Tommy  also  traveled  for  J.  S.  Turner  and  Stacy- 
Adams  before  going  with  his  present  house,  A.  E. 
Nettleton  Company,  five  years  ago.  Tommy  is 
a  great  favorite  with  everybody  and  is  just  the  kind 
of  a  fellow  we  like  to  boost.  Remember  that  ban- 
quet when  we  china-cabinetted  you,  Tom? 

142 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XV 

JOHN  DAVY 

Our  old  friend  John  Davy  started,  I  believe, 
traveling  from  Cincinnati  for  Stribley  &  Co.,  re- 
maining with  them  for  many  years.  After  travel- 
ing West  for  several  firms  he  went  down  to  New 
Orleans,  representing  Rice  &  Hutchins,  where  he 
died  about  two  years  ago.  His  son  has  taken  his 
place,  and  we  all  hope  he  will  be  the  same  grand 
man  as  his  father. 

R.  L.  SUMMERS 

Edwin  Clapp  will  cover  the  ground  of  history, 
for  Bobby  and  he  has  covered  considerable  ground 
for  this  firm,  and  Edwin  Clapp  shoes  are  pretty  well 
known  wherever  he  has  gone.  Able,  popular,  suc- 
cessful. 

HARRY  P.  DYER 

Harry  didn't  have  as  many  gray  hairs  when 
this  picture  was  taken  as  now.  He  has  been  trav- 
eling thirty  years  —  Field,  Thayer  &  Co.,  twelve 
years;  J.  J.  Grover's  Sons,  ten  years;  Mrs.  A.  R.  King, 
four  years;  J.  &  T.  Cousins,  four  years.  Harry  is  one 
of  the  men  the  traveling  fraternity  is  proud  to 
recognize. 

143 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

WARREN  C.  PIERCE 

"W.  C."  has  been  one  of  us  for  twenty-nine 
years.  Began  with  A.  P.  Tyler  &  Co.  In  leather 
business  a  while.  Then  on  road  for  Tuttle-Smith 
Company  and  Scotsmith  Company,  and  for  the  past 
twelve  years  has  been  one  of  the  popular  Preston  B. 
Keith  salesmen,  traveling  middle  West.  Picture 
taken  several  years  ago. 

FRED  C.  BRIEL 

Fred  doesn't  change  much,  as  this  picture  proves. 
He  was  in  the  retail  shoe  business  at  Natchez,  Miss., 
before  going  with  Lewis  A.  Crossett  about  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  Fred  is  a  southerner,  all  right,  and 
has  always  traveled  that  sunny  and  hospitable  ter- 
ritory. Brother  of  Christy  Briel,  the  famous  song- 
bird. 

ARTHUR  H.  JENKINS 

Arthur  Jenkins  belongs  in  the  select  class  of  suc- 
cessful shoe  salesmen.  He  started  in  the  shoe  busi- 
ness at  the  age  of  fifteen  with  Cox,  Young  &  Gardner 
and  when  only  seventeen  made  his  first  trip  for  them. 
Next  year  he  went  with  W.  L.  Douglas  (as  one  of  the 
first  three  salesmen  to  travel  for  him).  Ten  years 

144 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

with  Douglas.  Now  with  George  E.  Keith  and  is 
making  his  sixty-sixth  trip  into  the  South  —  a  long 
and  honorable  record. 

J.  P.  BURNS 

Few  will  recall  James  P.  Burns  as  a  traveling 
salesman,  thinking  of  him  rather  as  a  prominent 
shoe  retailer  in  Los  Angeles.  Truth  to  tell,  however, 
he  did  travel  for  Boston  wholesale  houses  a  good 
many  years  ago,  before  he  went  to  California  to 
make  his  fortune,  which  quest,  we  are  glad  to  say, 
was  successful.  J.  P.  is  always  glad  to  see  "the 
boys" — especially  from  Boston. 

GEORGE  J.  LOVELEY 

Most  of  our  readers  will  be  loath  to  believe  that 
George  Loveley  has  traveled  for  over  twenty  years, 
for  George  doesn  't  look  it.  So,  nevertheless.  Began 
when  he  was  nineteen,  with  Batchelder  &  Lincoln  - 
one  of  "Uncle  Joe's  boys."  Later  was  with  Walton, 
Logan  &  Co.,  for  several  years,  then  with  Thomp- 
son Bros,  for  some  time,  and  now  he  is  prominently 
identified  with  the  new  Dalton  Company,  Brockton. 
George  likes  to  play  golf  and  is  good  at  it.  Used  to 
be  a  crack  baseball  player.  Every  inch  a  man  and 
everybody  respects  and  esteems  him.  Need  say 
no  more. 

145 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XVI 
B.  H.  COGAN 

Barney,  I  know,  will  be  glad  to  be  among  the 
old  shoe  boys  even  if  he  is  a  shoe  manufacturer,  for 
he  enjoys  meeting  old  friends  on  the  road.  Head  of 
P.  Cogan  &  Son. 

ED.  T.  SHIPP 

Here's  handsome  Ed.  Shipp,  a  picture  taken 
back  in  his  salad  days.  But  Ed.  is  one  of  the  boys 
who  seem  to  grow  handsomer  with  the  passing 
years.  Never  represented  but  one  house  —  Burt 
&  Packard,  and  he  has  been  traveling  for  them  for 
twenty-seven  years,  covering  southern  territory. 
Ed.  lives  in  Paris,  Ky.,  his  native  town.  So 
we'll  call  him  Colonel  Shipp,  suh,  hereafter. 

P*  B.  KERRIGAN 

Phil  Kerrigan  —  would  you  ever  know  him 
from  this  picture?  —  started  on  the  road  with 
Nathan  D.  Dodge  in  1885  —  then  with  Dodge 
Bros.,  and  in  1890  he  went  with  Hazen  B.  Good- 
rich. In  1910  he  took  Hervey  E.  Guptill's  slippers 
into  the  southern  territory,  and  is  at  the  same  work 
now. 

146 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

BERTON  O.  WETMORE 

Bert's  fine  voice  has  charmed  all  of  us  for 
many  years.  Bert  surely  can  sing.  This  picture 
shows  him  in  1890.  He  started  selling  shoes  for 
J.  W.  Brigham,  then  was  with  J.  S.  Nelson  several 
years;  lastly,  with  Nat  Packard.  He  quit  the  road 
about  ten  years  ago  to  go  in  the  moving  picture 
business  on  the  executive  end,  and  has  made  a  suc- 
cess of  it.  We  see  Bert  once  in  a  while  and  know 
he  doesn't  forget  his  days  on  the  road. 


CHARLES  E.  DAVIS 

One  of  the  noblest  old  Romans  in  the  business. 
Charles  has  been  selling  shoes  for,  lo,  these  many, 
many  years,  and  to  look  at  him  you'd  never  sus- 
pect it.  This  picture  was  taken  a  long,  long  time 
ago.  He  has  represented  several  concerns  during 
this  period  and  is  one  of  the  real  veterans,  and  still 
as  young  as  any.  He  has  been  with  Burt  &  Packard 
for  sixteen  years  and  before  that  was  with  Johnson 
Bros.,  French,  Shriner  &  Urner,  and  Mrs.  A.  R.  King. 
He  started  on  the  road  for  Bennett  &  Howland 
(later  Denham  &  Howland),  and  was  later  with 
Dearborn  &  Kendall  (later  Dearborn  &  Shaw,  then 
Dearborn  &  Day). 

147 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JAKE  J.  BEAHR 

Jake  Beahr  we  must  put  down  as  "just  one  of 
the  old  salesmen. "  Been  traveling  out  of  Cincinnati 
a  good  many  years  and  belongs  with  the  younger 
element  as  well  as  with  the  older,  because  active, 
alive,  energetic.  Good  luck!  Jake,  for  a  hundred 
years,  say  we. 

B.  A.  ST.  JOHN 

Bennie  St.  John  traveled  for  Moore-Shafer  Shoe 
Company,  Brockport,  N.  Y.,  for  twenty  years  but, 
a  year  or  so  ago,  surprised  his  many  friends  by  going 
with  the  Menman  Company,  with  which  house  he  is 
keeping  up  his  record. 

PETER  McGEOucn 

Peter  McGeough  is  a  breath  of  the  "ould  sod,"  a 
wit,  a  humorist,  a  satirist,  a  philosopher,  a  soldier 
of  fortune,  a  man  in  whom  the  old-fashioned  notions 
of  friendship  and  comradeship  never  have  failed. 
Now  on  the  road  for  Piehler  of  Rochester.  Peter 
has  been  on  the  road  since  the  battle  of  the  Boyne. 

W.  F.  NYE 

This  handsome  young  man  we  identify  as  "one 
of  the  boys,"  namely,  W.  F.  Nye  ("Bill"  Nye.) 

148 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

Still  as  lively  and  friendly  as  ever  and  glad  to  be 
reckoned  with  the  shoe  immortals. 

XVII 

W.  H.  H.  JAMES 

He  is  remembered  first  as  a  clerk  with  the  old 
firm  of  A.  Knoblauch  &  Sons,  Minneapolis,  and 
was  a  lively  boy  in  those  days  as  he  is  now.  With 
Stacy-Adams  &  Co.  Lives  in  Braintree. 

GEORGE  GREGORY 

George  Gregory  was  the  same  old  George  when 
this  photo  was  taken  twenty-five  years  ago  —  he 
was  then  with  the  Newburyport  Shoe  Co.;  before 
that  he  was  with  the  Niagara  Shoe  Co.  of  Buf- 
falo. After  twelve  years  with  Newburyport,  George 
went  with  Val  Duttenhofer,  and  later  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Rickard-Gregory  Shoe  Company 
(later  the  R.  &  G.  Shoe  Company,  of  which  company 
he  was  president  and  general  manager).  He  was 
with  E.  P.  Reed  a  while  and  is  now  with  the  George 
R.  Jones  Company  at  Manchester,  N.  H. 

HOWARD  PLATTS 

Handsome  Howard  has  been  right  there  in  the 
shoe  game  for  thirty  years.  This  picture  was 

149 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

taken  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  Howard 
used  to  manufacture  shoes  in  Holbrook,  Mass., 
where  he  now  lives,  first  as  Hanna  &  Platts,  then  as 
Howard  Platts  &  Payne.  He  has  been  with  Isaac 
Prouty  for  the  past  eight  years. 

W.    H.    HUNTINGTON 

Does  not  belong  to  the  traveling  salesman  class, 
but,  as  he  was  the  secretary  of  the  former  Shoe 
Travelers'  League,  years  ago,  he  is  entitled  to  be 
one  of  us.  He  is  on  deck  every  day  at  Isaac  Prouty 's 
office  on  Essex  Street,  Boston. 

HARRY  M.  HAMILTON 

Harry  Hamilton  counts  his  friends  only  by  the 
limit  of  his  acquaintances.  He  has  been  traveling 
thirty-four  years.  He  was  with  Lilly-Brackett 
fifteen  years,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  with 
Thompson  Bros.  He  is  now  with  the  new  Brock- 
ton concern  — •  the  Dalton  Shoe  Company.  For 
thirty-three  years  he  has  made  principal  cities  in 
the  South  and  Southwest  and  western  Pennsylvania. 

A.  L.  CHASE 

A.  L.  is  a  popular  fixture  in  the  Charles  K. 
Fox  sales  organization.  Been  with  this  line  for 
twenty-three  years,  excepting  1902,  when  he  was 

150 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

with  T.  G.  Plant.  Previously  with  Berry,  Chase 
&  Milliard,  Hazen  B.  Goodrich,  Chase,  May  &  Co., 
and  Ellis  &  Connor.  Began  in  1886.  Always  sold 
Haverhill  shoes,  excepting  one  year.  Would  you 
recognize  this  picture? 

J.  F.  FLINT 

"Winch  Bros,  hired  man"  —  that  was  John 
Flint's  familiar  cognomen  for  years.  Represented 
them  for  thirty-six  years,  traveling  twelve  months 
a  year.  Rested  up  Christmas  day.  Covered  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania.  Never  changed  territory.  Now 
with  A.  M.  Creighton.  We  hereby  hand  the  medal 
for  continuous  traveling  to  John  F.  Flint  of 
Rochester,  New  York. 

CHARLES  BRANDMAN 

Charles  B.  is  one  of  the  Napoleons  of  shoe  sales- 
manship. He  has  made  one  of  the  greatest  records 
ever  accomplished,  and  is  a  real  one,  and  always  a 
modest,  earnest,  good-fellowship  sort  of  a  guy  is 
Charlie.  Been  selling  "Just  Wright"  shoes  for 
years.  Lives  in  Port  JerviS-on-the-Erie  Railroad. 

JOE  A.  WARRENDERN 

We  remember  him  first  selling  for  Harry  K.  Childs 
in  Chicago.     He  was  so  long  with  Thomson  Bros. 

151 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

that  he  probably  has  forgotten  those  old  days;  but 
the  trade  in  Indiana  and  Ohio  know  him  well,  and 
I  guess  he  will  get  his  share  of  trade  on  his  new  line 
—  the  Dalton  Company,  of  Brockton. 


XVIII 
OSCAR  JACOBI 

"Oscar  the  Only"  has  been  a  shoe  salesman 
for  thirty-five  years,  and  has  made  as  few  changes 
in  that  long  period  as  about  anybody.  He  started 
with  Cohen  &  Sons,  New  York,  and  later  saw  ser- 
vice with  A.  E.  Little  &  Co.,  French  Shriner  &  Ur- 
ner  and  Harney  Bros.  He  now  carries  the  Wil- 
liamson and  Knox  lines.  Oscar  loves  to  fish  and 
is  always  one  of  "the  boys." 


W.  G.  BRIDGED 

Our  old  friend  "Billy"  Bridgeo  started  selling 
shoes  a  good  many  years  ago  for  Edmunds  &  Mayo, 
then  with  Todd,  Bancroft  &  Co.,  Rochester,  for 
nine  years;  later  with  William  Porter  &  Sons  and 
Welch  and  Landregan.  "Billy"  has  been  with 
Allen-Foster-Willett  for  the  past  few  years. 

152 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JOHN  M.  MEGGETT 

Genial  John  Meggett  —  thirty  years  of  shoe 
selling  —  with  J.  A.  Manning,  E.  P.  Dodge  and  P. 
J.  Harney.  Charter  member  and  past  president 
of  the  Boston  Shoe  Travelers'  Association.  John 
is  one  of  the  well-known  and  best-liked  men  in  the 
eastern  trade.  Now  with  Plant  Bros. 

FRED  C.  CHURCH 

Fred  is  the  original  "I'm  from  Missouri"  shoe 
salesman.  Lives  still  in  Jefferson  City  and  sells 
Williams-Kneeland  shoes  down  that  way.  This 
classic  photograph  was  taken  in  1889.  First  trip 
in  1884.  That  lets  Fred  in  as  an  old-timer. 

CHARLES  A.  ESTES 

For  nineteen  years  Charles  A.  Estes  has  traveled 
for  Krippendorf-Dittman.  He  began  his  shoe  career 
with  M.  A.  Palmer,  of  Portland,  Me.  Here  for 
eighteen  years.  Then  became  partner  of  Hubert 
Gardiner,  in  New  York,  as  Gardiner  &  Estes,  and 
traveled  West  and  New  England.  One  of  the  men 
whose  road  life  would  fill  a  volume. 

WILLIAM  H.  DUNN 

Mr.  Dunn,  well-known  member  of  the  firm  of 
Utz  &  Dunn,  sold  shoes  for  his  company  in  its 

153 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

early  history  in  about  forty  states,  and  also  has 
sold  in  Hawai,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Venezuela,  West 
Indies,  etc.  Many  dealers,  manufacturers  and 
traveling  salesmen  know  and  respect  Mr.  Dunn 
for  the  fine,  courteous  gentleman  that  he  surely  is. 

E.  A.  TERHUNE 

This  picture  of  Ed  was  taken  "somewhere  in 
Maine,"  years  ago,  and  as  will  be  noticed  Ed  was 
a  gallant  youth  —  and  still  is  the  same.  He  began 
his  road  career  with  W.  L.  Douglas  in  1885,  manu- 
factured shoes  for  a  while,  and  for  the  past  eight 
years  has  been  with  the  Matchless  Shoe  Company, 
Ed  once  was  a  retail  store  magnate,  having  stores 
in  Boston  and  Brockton. 

ARTHUR  I.  BENEDICT 

Arthur  Benedict,  now  president  of  the  N.  Y. 
Shoe  Travelers'  Association,  is  the  most  extensive 
shoe  traveler  we  know  anything  about.  He  has 
sold  shoes  in  every  state  in  the  Union  but  three, 
in  all  of  Europe,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  the  Pa- 
cific islands,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  etc.  Comes  of  a 
family  of  shoe  men  —  son  of  J.  Irving  Benedict. 
Family  shoe  history  goes  back  to  1752.  Has  a  son 
also  on  the  road  selling  shoes.  Who  can  beat  that 
record?  Mr.  Benedict  has  been  with  the  following 

154 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

firms  as  member,  sales  manager,  salesman,  etc.:  — 
J.  Irving  Benedict  &  Son,  Faunce  &  Spinney,  Morse 
&  Rogers,  Edwin  C.  Burt  Company.  Now  with 
Whitman  &  Keith.  Been  on  the  road  thirty-seven 
years. 

F.     GARRETT     FISHER 

Mr.  Fisher  is  now  treasurer  of  the  Stone-Fisher 
Company,     the     large     Tacoma,    Wash.,     depart- 
ment   store.     He    is   smooth    shaven   now.     When 
he  was  a  traveling  shoe  salesman  he  looked  like  this 
—  over   twenty  years  ago. 

JOHN  J.  WALSH 

John  Walsh  is  one  of  the  best-known  southern 
shoe  salesmen  —  traveled  for  Julian  &  Kokenge, 
down  in  Dixie,  a  good  many  years  and,  is  deservedly 
popular  and  a  true  southerner  in  every  respect. 
Long  may  he  flourish. 

XIX 

GEORGE  STRONG 

If  there  is  a  pioneer  shoe  manufacturer  and  sales- 
man who  is  more  esteemed  than  George  Strong,  we 
don't  know  who  he  is.  Mr.  Strong  is  seventy-nine 
years  old  and  is  the  owner  of  the  George  Strong  Com- 
pany, East  Weymouth,  Mass.,  and  still  sells  many 

155 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

shoes  every  year.  He  was  in  the  retail  shoe  business 
in  New  London,  Conn.,  in  1864.  He  sold  this  to 
his  nephew,  George  C.  Strong,  in  1875.  In  1876, 
he  traveled  for  Clark  &  Holbrook,  and  for  Walker, 
Short  &  Co.  In  1878,  John  Carroll,  W.  O.  Walker 
and  Mr.  Strong  formed  the  manufacturing  firm  of 
Walker,  Strong  &  Carroll,  which  continued  until 
1885,  when  it  became  Strong  &  Carroll.  In  1895,  it 
became  Strong  &  Garfield  (Henry  S.  Garfield)  and 
in  1906  the  firm  became  George  Strong  Company. 
Always  men's  fine  shoes.  Mr.  Strong,  respected 
and  loved  by  all,  has  traveled  for  forty-one  years. 
This  picture  was  taken  many  years  —  please  note  the 
facial  adornment. 

D.  M.  CORBIN 

Brother  Corbin,  one  of  Utz  &  Dunn's  real 
veterans,  has  been  a  "knight  of  the  grip"  for  almost 
forty  years.  Started  for  J.  Miller  &  Co.,  September 
1876,  when  manufacturers'  agents  were  as  scarce 
as  Democrats  in  Vermont.  This  picture  is  twenty- 
one  years  old,  but  D.  M.  hasn't  changed  very  much 
in  that  time. 

J.  FRANK  CREHAN 

J.  Frank  has  been  so  long  (over  six  feet)  with 
French,  Shriner  &  Urner  that  we  cannot  think  of 

156 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

him  as  ever  with  another  house.  He  had  his  growth 
when  this  picture  was  taken  and  has  not  lost  an 
inch  since.  Past-president  Boston  Shoe  Travelers' 
Association.  Lives  in  Hingham. 

JOHN  L.  LAIRD 

Probably  in  his  day  John  Laird  sold  more  fine 
shoes  on  the  coast  than  any  one,  and  Laird,  Schober 
&  Mitchell  was  the  line.  I  don't  think  he  is  for- 
gotten out  West,  even  though  he  has  lived  in  England, 
for  many  years.  He  is  still  selling  the  old  line  in 
that  country,  and  I  don't  think  at  his  age  they  will 
call  him  to  the  trenches. 

G.  TOWNES  GAINES 

Townes  Gaines  looks  as  young  as  he  did  twenty 
years  ago.  Been  traveling  for  thirty-five  years. 
Sells  "Krip's"  and  "Just  Wright"  shoes  down 
South,  where  everybody  knows  him.  Used  to  live 
in  Lynchburg  and  now  is  in  Knoxville.  Brother 
of  "Am"  Gaines. 

AMBROSE  GAINES 

"Am"  Gaines,  how-dy-do?  Understand  you're 
in  politics  now,  down  in  old  Knox  County,  Tennes- 
see. Election  Commissioner,  eh?  Good  work,  Am. 
We  all  know  Am  and  like  him.  Been  selling  shoes 
down  South  for,  lo,  these  many  years. 

157 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

C.  S.  PIERCE 

If  you  ask  any  shoe  man  in  Washington  or  Ore- 
gon or  western  Canada  or  away  up  in  Alaska  who 
C.  S.  Pierce  is,  they'll  tell  you  pretty  quick  that  he 
represents  Utz  &  Dunn  out  that  way  and  is  a  real 
man.  Here's  a  picture  of  C.  S.  taken  twenty  years 
ago.  He  lives  in  Seattle. 

HERBERT  N.  LAPE 

This  picture  of  Herbert  Lape  was  taken  when  he 
was  fifteen  years  old  and  is  the  record  for  this  book. 
Once  upon  a  time  our  friend  was  on  the  stage  in  a 
light  opera  company  and  now,  behold!  he  is  sales 
manager  for  Julian  &  Kokenge  and  a  strenuous, 
hustling,  driving,  clear-headed  able  sales  manager, 
he  is.  Also  makes  his  regular  trip. 

D.    E.    KlTTREDGE 

"Kit"  has  been  on  the  road  for  over  thirty  years. 
Started  shoe-life  as  a  clerk  in  St.  Louis.  On  road 
for  Curtis  &  Wheeler  in  1885.  Dugan  &  Hudson, 
1890.  Since  then  with  R.  T.  Wood,  covering 
Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Nebraska.  One  of  Rochester's 
enthusiastic  association  members. 


158 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

W.  H.  BALKAM 

W.  H.  Balkam  occupies  an  honored  position  in 
the  history  of  this  great  trade.  For  many  years  he 
has  held  the  respect  and  high  regard  of  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  with  J.  W.  Brigham  &  Co.,  of  Boston, 
for  twenty-four  years,  fifteen  on  the  road;  five  years 
with  Ellis  &  Connor  of  Haverhill,  two  years  with 
Bryant  Boot  &  Shoe  Company,  of  Randolph,  Mass., 
and  for  the  past  eighteen  years  he  has  been  with 
A.  E.  Little  &  Co.,  of  Lynn,  in  the  office. 

XX 

B.  T.  HUDSON 

We  miss  this  kind  face  to  this  day,  for  "Brynie" 
was  loved  by  us  all.  His  sad  death  came  in  the 
midst  of  his  success,  for  he  was  making  the  name  of 
Dugan  &  Hudson  a  house-hold  name.  He  was  for 
a  while  in  charge  of  the  firm's  New  York  branch, 
and  then  traveled  to  many  of  the  large  cities. 
Many  buyers  remember  him  well. 

FRED  S.  ELWELL 

Fred  Elwell  has  been  off  the  road  for  twenty-six 
years,  and  has  become  one  of  the  most  successful 
life  insurance  men  in  the  country,  and  an  expert 
on  insurance  legislation.  Often  called  into  counsel 

159 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

by  governors  and  legislators  on  insurance  laws. 
Has  one  of  the  largest  insurance  businesses  in  Boston. 
He  was  Lamkin  &  Foster's  first  salesman  —  was 
with  Church,  Brown  &  Co.  until  1890,  when  he 
went  into  the  insurance  field. 

E.  H.  CUSHING 

Mr.  Cushing  is  well  known  as  house  salesman 
with  Thomson-Crooker.  He  traveled  for  fifteen 
years,  beginning  in  1890,  for  E.  P.  Dodge  before 
going  with  Thomson-Crooker.  He  has,  therefore, 
been  selling  women's  shoes  for  twenty-six  years. 

W.  P.  FRANCIS 

Bill  can  consider  himself  a  salesman,  for  I  know 
he  has  made  several  trips  selling  shoes,  but  it  is 
as  a  factory  superintendent  that  he  made  his  rep- 
utation with  Nat  Packard  and  Snow  and  Emerson. 
Now  is  in  Canada,  running  a  factory. 

CHARLES  H.  SMITH 

Well,  well,  who  would  believe  this  callow  youth 
was  Charlie  Smith,  now  the  pride  of  the  Los  Angeles 
Hollywood  moving  picture  devotees.  This  photo 
was  taken  for  Barnum  &  Bailey's  show  about  thirty 
years  ago.  Everybody  on  the  coast  knows  Charlie 
and  buys  L.  B.  Evans'  shoes  from  him.  So  Charlie 
is  a  plutocrat  and  as  popular  as  they  make  'em. 

160 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

S.  M.  PRITCHETT 

The  familiar  figure  of  S.  M.  has  an  honored 
place  in  this  galaxy  of  shoe  immortals.  He's  been 
selling  Smaltz-Goodwin  shoes  for  many  a  year,  and 
is  everybody's  friend  and  vice  versa. 

JOHN  S.  SPAULDING 

This  photo  of  John  Spaulding  was  taken  nearly 
thirty  years  ago.  Do  you  recognize  it?  He  has 
been  with  Preston  B.  Keith  for  a  long  time.  Lives 
in  famous  old  Lexington. 

SAMUEL  COOK 

Mr.  Cook  is  of  the  real  "old  school"  of  traveling 
shoe  salesmen  —  a  fine  old  gentleman  of  strictest 
integrity  and  beloved  by  all.  He  sold  Harvey  B. 
Evans'  shoes  for  years.  Has  retired  and  lives  at 
Woburn,  Mass. 

WILLARD  H.  JAMES 

We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  include  in  this  collection 
a  photo  of  Willard  H.  James,  who  represents  Foss- 
Packard  Company  of  Auburn,  Me.,  in  the  West,  and 
lives  in  Chicago. 

161 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XXI 

EDWIN  H.  MATHEWSON 

Mr.  Mathewson  started  selling  shoes  on  the 
road  for  Lounsbury  Bros.  &  Rockwell  in  1872, 
and  continued  for  Lounsbury  Bros.  &  Co.  and 
Lounsbury,  Mathewson  &  Co.  until  about  eight 
years  ago,  a  period  of  thirty-six  years.  This  pic- 
ture was  taken  about  1890.  Mr.  Mathewson  died 
eight  years  ago.  A  gentleman  in  every  sense  of 
the  word  and  an  honor  to  this  great  trade.  He 
was  a  brother  of  Herbert  A.  Mathewson. 

HERBERT  A.  MATHEWSON 

Mr.  Mathewson  is  the  present  Mathewson  of 
the  well-known  manufacturing  house  of  Lounsbury, 
Mathewson  &  Co.,  and  is  a  brother  of  the  late 
Edwin  H.  Mathewson.  This  photo  was  taken  in 
1887.  Mr.  Mathewson  began  his  sales  career  for 
Lounsbury  Bros.  &  Co.,  and  still  attends  to  some 
of  the  firm's  trade. 

J.  F.  KNOWLES 

Most  of  us  think  of  "Cy"  Knowles  as  a  success- 
ful retailer  —  treasurer  of  the  W.  G.  Simmons 
Corporation,  Hartford,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  "served  time"  on  the  road.  He  traveled 
southern  New  England  for  Batchelder  &  Lincoln 

162 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

for  twenty-one  years  until  he  became  credit  man 
for  the  same  house,  and  finally  became  a  dealer. 
Mr.  Knowies  was  born  in  famous  Provincetown, 
and  followed  the  sea  from  the  age  of  twelve  to 
twenty-one  years.  Secretary  of  The  Associated 
Shoe  Company  now,  as  well  as  head  of  the  Simmons 
business.  A  genial,  courteous,  deeply  respected 
gentleman. 

MARC  W.  REED 

Marc  Reed  made  his  first  trip  forty-four  years 
ago  next  July,  so  he  belongs  in  the  front  rank  of 
veteran  and  pioneer  shoe  salesmen.  Hasn't  missed 
a  trip  since  1874,  covering  always  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
a  record  for  this  territory,  we  believe.  He  has 
been  with  Krohn-Fechheimer  for  over  thirty  years 
and  can  still  go  a  few  fast  miles.  This  photo  was 
taken  twenty-five  years  ago. 

AMOS  F.  BAILEY 

Amos  cannot  pose  now  as  a  shoe  salesman, 
although  several  years  ago  he  traveled  in  the  West, 
but  later  developed  into  a  Lynn  shoe  manufacturer. 
Now,  we  find  him  a  pattern  maker  getting  us  in 
trouble  with  his  latest  styles. 

JOHN  E.  O'BRIEN 

"  Silver- tongue "  John,  one  of  the  very  popular 
shoe  salesmen  —  take  a  look  at  this  prehistoric 

163 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

picture.  John  is  past  president  of  the  Boston 
Shoe  Travelers'  Association,  and  was  the  first 
president  of  the  National  Shoe  Travelers'  Asso- 
ciation. Has  in  his  active  career  represented  these 
houses:  —  H.  A.  Royce  &  Co.,  J.  E.  Dayton  &  Co., 
J.  B.  Lewis,  Kellam-Goller-Land,  Hurley  Shoe  Com- 
pany, and  for  the  past  few  years  has  been  with 
Commonwealth. 

C.  A.  MCLEAN 

If  any  one  would  call  Charley  one  of  the  old  boys 
he  would  resent  it,  but  I  know  he  is,  even  if  he  does 
step  around  as  lively  as  some  of  the  kids.  He  has 
traveled  so  long  for  J.  P.  Smith  that  I  don't  dare  go 
further  back. 

W.  McMuLLEN 

"Mac"  has  traveled  continuously  for  forty-eight 
years,  and  in  all  that  time  has  never  missed  a  train 
nor  lost  a  day's  work.  Step  to  the  head  of  the  class. 
This  picture  was  taken  forty  years  ago.  Last 
with  Preston  B.  Keith  Shoe  Company.  Lives  in 
Albany.  A  long  and  useful  life,  respected  by  all. 

P.    A.    RlTTER 

P.  A.  Ritter  started  with  Selby  in  1882  and,  to 
use  his  own  expression,  "expects  to  sell  them  fifty 
more  years."  This  photo  is  only  ten  years  old. 
Wish  we  had  one  when  P.  A.  was  a  boy. 

164 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

HERBERT  A.  HARRINGTON 

Traveled  for  years  for  Hathaway,  Soule  &  Har- 
rington of  New  Bedford,  but  of  late  years  has  man- 
aged the  shoe  store  of  J.  G.  Brandt  Shoe  Company 
St.  Louis.     I  believe  he  has  retired  now. 

XXII 
HECTOR  E.  LYNCH 

Few  in  these  days  remember  him  when  he  was 
selling  a  jobbing  line.  When  he  left  that  line  and 
went  with  Howard  &  Foster  it  was  the  turning-point 
of-  his  career,  and  now  every  one  knows  Hector  and 
is  pleased  to  know  of  his  fine  success. 

HENRY  S.  GARFIELD 

Years  ago  a  tall  young  man  with  very  light  hair 
left  a  retail  job  in  Minneapolis  and  took  his  first 
trip  on  the  road  selling  men's  shoes  for  Walker, 
Strong  &  Carroll  and  Stoneham  Co-operative 
(children's  shoes),  and  he  made  a  success  of  it  from 
the  first.  He  then  was  of  the  firm  of  Strong  & 
Garfield  for  several  years.  The  few  hairs  are  now 
gray,  but  Henry  is  the  same  Henry  and  we  find 
him  working  hard  with  Nettleton  of  Syracuse. 

165 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JOHN  H.  HUNT 

John  was  for  years  with  J.  &  T.  Cousins  and 
Davis  Shoe  Company  in  New  England,  and  in  his 
quiet  way  sold  a  great  many  shoes  and  was  very 
well  liked.  His  death  a  few  years  ago  was  a  source 
of  sorrow  to  all  of  us. 

HARRY  KIDD 

A  highly  successful  salesman  for  Johnston  & 
Murphy  for  many  years,  having  an  interest  in  the 
firm  and  also  with  Snyder  &  Kidd,  retail  shoe 
dealers  in  Washington,  D.  C.  His  sad  death  in  an 
automobile  accident  a  couple  of  years  ago  was  a 
great  blow  to  his  friends  and  a  great  loss  to  the  shoe 
trade. 

JOHN  MCELANEY 

John  has  sold  for  Stacy-Adams  so  many  years 
that  we  can  forget  the  rest.  One  of  the  most  popu- 
lar boys  on  the  road.  Is  now  president  of  the  South- 
ern Shoe  Salesmen's  Association. 

CHARLES  J.  SHRINER 

Charlie  Shriner,  who  died  February  21,  1915,  was 
one  of  the  strong  men  of  the  trade  —  a  fine  salesman, 
a  successful  shoe  manufacturer,  a  big  man.  His 
sudden  death  last  year  was  a  great  sorrow  to  all 

166 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

of  us.  Traveled  for  Hanan  for  years,  then  with 
French  &  Hall,  then  he  and  the  late  Samuel  P.  Urner 
became  members  of  the  firm  of  French,  Shriner  & 
Urner  and  achieved  success  as  fine  shoe  manufacturers. 

CHARLES  F.  STORY 

We  remember  Charlie  Story  as  being  with  Burt 
&  Packard  for  years;  then  went  with  Nettleton  a 
few  years  ago  and  has  been  a  great  success.  C.  F. 
is  one  of  the  younger  generation  of  "veterans." 
A  full-fledged  Syracuse  Nettletonian  now. 

SAMUEL  SHAW 

Of  Leonard,  Shaw  &  Dean.  Sam  can  hardly 
call  himself  a  traveling  shoe  salesman  now,  as  he 
devotes  most  of  his  time  to  the  factory,  but  in  the 
old  days,  this  young  fellow  surely  did  sell  some  shoes, 
and  we  are  all  glad  to  know  of  his  success  as  Henry 
Dean's  partner  in  the  manufacturing  business. 

ED.  SKINNER 

Ed.  traveled  for  years  from  Rochester,  but  of 
late  years  has  been  in  the  men's  game  traveling 
to  the  coast  for  Burt  &  Packard.  The  trade  will 
miss  him  for  he  resigned  lately,  and  probably  is  into 
something  big. 

167 


SKETCHES     OF    TRAVELING    SALESMEN 

XXIII 
W.  H.  ANDERSON 

"Andy,"  as  he  is  well  known  to  all  his  old  friends, 
is  known  no  more  to  the  shoe  trade,  as  he  has  for- 
saken us  for  the  automobile,  as  he  was  last  heard 
of  in  St.  Louis  selling  auto  trucks;  but  he  made 
himself  heard  in  the  days  past  representing  Edwin 
Clapp  in  the  middle  West.  I  wish  I  could  print 
some  of  his  funny  sayings  and  stories. 

FRANK  H.  LAND 

We  remember  the  late  Frank  Land  as  with  Hank 
Goller,  first  selling  Lewis'  Wear  Resisters.  Poor 
health  took  him  out  to  Colorado  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  we  find  him  forming  the  shoe  manufacturing 
firm  of  Kellam-Goller-Land,  of  Lynn.  We  all 
remember  his  hearty  good  nature,  and  he  was  cheer- 
ful and  hopeful  to  the  last. 

C.  A.  WILLETS 

Began  his  shoe  career  as  a  shoe  merchant  and  is 
liable  to  end  it,  as  he  has  now  a  store  in  Kansas 
City,  but  he  is  well  remembered  as  selling  Stetson 
shoes  in  the  West. 

168 


But  if  the  while  I  think  on  thee,  dear  friend, 

All  losses  are  restored  and  sorrows  end.  —  SHAKESPEARE. 


JAMES  P.  BEATTY 

Here  is  J.  P.  Beatty,  the  popu- 
lar ex-president  of  the  Rochester 
Association  of  Trave'ing  Sales- 
men, and  one  of  the  best  known 
men  on  the  road.  J.  P.  tells  me 
that  this  picture  was  taken  thirty- 
four  years  ago,  so  you  can  imagine 
the  change.  He  was  with  Dake 
&  Barrett,  1886-1<*91,  going  with 
C.  P.  Ford  &  Co.,  twenty-four 
years  ago,  and  still  with  them. 

FREEMAN  D.  BLAKE 

Many  shoe  folks  know  F.  D. 
Blake.  He  has  been  selling  shoes 
for  over  twenty  years.  He  was 
brought  up  in  the  leather  business 
in  Woburn,  Mass.,  spent  ten 
Years  in  California  in  the  leather 
trade  and  was  with  the  Z.  C.  M. 
I.,  at  Salt  Lake  City  for  a  while. 
He  is  perhaps  best  remembered 
as  a  member  of  the  Stetson  Shoe 
Company  for  many  years. 


EDWARD  EVARTS 

I  am  pleased  to  show  another 
of  our  Rochester  friends  —  Ed- 
ward Evarts,  well  known  as  one 
of  John  Kelly's  long-time  sales- 
men. This  picture  was  taken 
about  thirty  years  ago  and  you 
would  never  recognize  Edward 
E.  from  this  picture. 


A.  H.  ATHERTON  and 
F.  M.  COLBURN 

••  Here  are  two  old  cronies  — 
Bert  Atherton  and  Frank  Co- 
burn.  This  was  sna'pped  in  Se- 
attle, twenty  years  ago.  Every- 
body knows  that  Bert  is  one  of 
the  big  men  of  the  Lewis  A. 
Crossett  line,  and  Frank  Colburn 
has  long  been  with  Hazen  B. 
Goodrich  &  Co. 


A.  S.  MAcFARLANE 

This  is  an  old-time  picture  of  A.  S.  MacFarlane,  whose  untimely  death  is  reported  the  very  day  this  por- 
tion of  this  book  goes  to  press  —  a  most  sorrowful  announcement.  "Sunny  Jim"  was  with  E.  T.  Wright 
&  Co.  for  many  years,  always  successful,  always  genial.  Picture  taken  when  he  was  with  Hanan. 


SOUTHERN  SHOE  SALESMEN'S  ASSOCIATION,  1890 


TOP  Row,  left  to  right:  Lester  Stevens,  E.  F.  Sawyer,  Arthur  Stetson, 
B.  O.  Wetmore,  Frank  Ferguson,  Harris  M.  Barnes,  Fred  J.  Welden, 
Lincoln,  Frank  M.  Colburn,  Hector  E.  Lynch,  George  R.  Jacobs,  James 
Casey. 

SECOND  Row:  Arthur  H.  Jenkins,  David  S.  Childs,  Natt  F.  Stevens, 
Samuel  Shaw,  Ed.  T.  Shipp,  Henry  M.  Currier,  William  L.  Haynes, 
Fred  C.  Briel. 

THIRD  Row:  Clarence  P.  Waide,  A.  Erwin  Rankin,  Robert  Lee, 
Summers,  S.  Preston  Moses,  George  T.  Chase,  Frank  M.  Barker,  Fred 
Werner,  Charles  F.  Lusch,  J.  Rush  Green. 

BOTTOM  Row:  Ralph  J.  Saxe,  G.  Townes  Gaines,  Harry  H.  Ripley, 
A.  H.  Atherton,  Arthur  L.  Brooks,  W.  Harry  Dudley,  Walter  May. 


SALESMEN'S  GROUP,  PLANTERS'  HOTEL,  ST.  LOUIS,  1898 


This  interesting  photograph  belongs  to  Walter 
I.  Perry,  of  the  Bliss  &  Perry  Company,  Newbury- 
port,  Mass. 

Taken  at  the  Planters'  Hotel,  St.  Louis,  eighteen 
years  ago,  many  old  familiar  faces  and  forms  will 
readily  be  recognized. 

Unfortunately  we  are  unable  to  identify  all  of 
the  folks  in  the  group. 

Among  the  others  here  shown  are  the  following: 
George  H.  Harrington,  Charles  H.  Foster,  Joel  C. 
Page,  Harris  M.  Barnes,  George  Ahrens,  Lou  Wood, 
Frank  B.  King,  George  S.  Dwinnell,  Fred  J.  Wei- 
den,  C.  A.  McLean,  J.  C.  Hunt,  A.  L.  Chase,  Walter 
I.  Perry,  W.  Harry  Dudley,  Robert  Sprunt,  Jr., 
James  Musson,  L.  M.  Gerson,  James  D.  Sheridan, 
A.  W.  Gage,  A.  W.  Dubois,  H.  L.  Gabell,  Meier 
Swope,  Messrs.  Lynch,  Aber,  Elkins,  Dwyer,  Wolf, 
Powers,  Davenport,  Phelps,  Weaver. 


THE  "BIG  FOUR" 


SIX  HUISKAMP  SHOE  PEOPLE 


H.  H.  RIPLEY 

M.  J.  MULRYAN 


UDSON 

WELDEN 


Fred  J.  Welden,  M.  J.  Mulryan,  Harry  H. 
Ripley  and  W.  H.  Judson  were  the  "big  four" 
that  sold  shoes  for  the  old  firm  of  J.  C.  Bennett 
&  Barnard,  and  they  surely  did  sell  some  shoes 
in  those  days.  Harry  Ripley  we  know  all  about. 
Fred  Welden  was  last  with  Thomas  G.  Plant, 
until  his  failing  health  caused  him  to  resign.  He 
passed  away  a  few  years  ago,  at  his  home  down 
Cape  Cod  way. 

Judson  died  many  years  ago.  Mulryan, 
after  several  good  positions  on  the  road  and  as 
manager,  is  now  filling  a  factory  position  in  Lynn. 

This  photograph,  taken  forty-four  years  ago, 
was  sent  to  us  by  John  M.  French  of  Keokuk, 
la.  It  is  a  group  of  Huiskamp  Bros.  Com- 
pany folks. 

H.  W.  Huiskamp  is  now  president  of  the 
company.  Eldest  son  of  the  founder  of  the 
business. 


Taken  i 


A,  E.  MATLESS 
H.  W.  HUISKAMP 
W.  S.  FLETCHER 


JOHN  M.  FRE: 

L.  T.  P? 

THOMAS  REE 


John  M.  French  was  with  Huiskamp  f; 
1872  to  1905.  He  was  the  No.  1  membei 
the  great  Iowa  Traveling  Salesmen's  Associat 
and  offered  the  resolution  leading  to  organ 
tion,  in  1880,  and  paid  in  the  first  dollar. 
000  members  now. 

A.  E.  Matless  was  former  vice-presic 
and  treasurer  of  the  company.  Mr.  Mat 
has  passed  away. 

W.  S.  Fletcher  retired  in  1900,  after  twei 
five  years  of  Huiskamp  service. 

Thomas  Reddie,  house  salesman,  has  b 
with  Huiskamp  forty-four  years. 

L.  T.  Pyles  is  deceased.  He  represer 
Huiskamp  Bros.  Company  for  many  yc 
beginning  in  1876.  He  died  in  1913. 


SKETCHES    OF    T  R  A  V  E  L  I  N  G    SALESMEN 

TONY  E.  JOHNSON 

Tony  has  traveled  for  several  years  to  the  coast, 
but  lately  is  representing  Williams-Kneeland  in  the 
South.  He  may  retire  before  many  years  to  his 
farm  in  Michigan,  where,  I  believe,  he  is  raising 
blooded  cattle. 

JOSEPH  C.  KIMBALL 

We  think  of  Joe  Kimball  as  a  big  leather  buyer 
for  Lewis  A.  Crossett,  Inc.,  and  a  gentleman  of 
standing  in  North  Abington  and  South  Street,  but 
as  a  matter  of  fact  he  was  a  successful  shoe  salesman 
on  his  own  account  in  Haverhill,  twenty-five  years 
ago,  and  has  sold  a  great  many  Crossett  shoes.  Pic- 
ture taken  at  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

ORAN  McCoRMiCK 

Everybody  who  knows  anything  about  shoes 
knows  about  Oran  McCormick.  Oran  has  always 
been  a  shoe  man  from  "bench"  days  down  in  Fort 
Worth,  thirty  years  ago,  until  now.  He  traveled 
a  while  for  J.  S.  Turner  down  South,  but  being  by 
nature  an  artist,  he  turned  to  journalism  and  shoe 
illustration.  He  founded  the  Illustrated  Footwear- 
Fashion  in  1899,  selling  this  in  1910.  He  was  the 
pioneer  in  high-class  shoe  illustration.  Now  the 
owner  of  Modern  Shoemaking,  a  handsome  publica- 

173 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

tion,  for  a  fact.  Oran  McCormick  is  a  man  of  unique 
personality,  strong  likes  and  dislikes  and  an  artist 
clear  through.  When  we  write  the  history  of  the 
shoe  trade  we  will  have  to  have  a  whole  chapter  for 
O.  M.  He  is  proud  to  be  enumerated  as  "one  of  the 
boys." 

ED.  MAURER 

Well,  here's  Ed.  Maurer,  back  in  his  palmy, 
youthful  days  —  twenty-eight  years  ago.  Ed's  been 
on  the  road  about  thirty  years,  first  for  W.  N.  Gokey. 
Represented  different  houses  until  his  connection 
with  Preston  B.  Keith  several  years  ago.  Now 
travels  the  coast.  Popular  salesman  with  his  trade 
and  compatriots.  Past  president  of  Indianapolis 
Shoe  Travelers'  Association. 

"HANK"  GOLLER 

One  of  the  three  Gollers  well  known  in  the  shoe 
trade.  Brother  of  Harry  and  Charles  F.  Went 
with  J.  B.  Lewis  in  1884.  Formed  partnership  with 
Frank  Land  as  Kellam-Goller-Land  Company,  in 
1902.  We  see  "Hank"  frequently,  and  he's  one  of 
the  best-known  men  in  the  Boston  trade. 

D.  J.  TOBIN 

Here's  another  of  the  famous  bunch  of  E.  P. 
Dodge  salesmen;  with  that  house  eighteen  years. 

174 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

Then  with  Rickard-Gregory  five  years.     Two  years 
with  P.  J.  Harney.     Now  with  H.  H.  Gray's  Son. 

XXIV 

E.  A.  KENDALL 

Here  is  a  genuine  veteran  —  E.  A.  Kendall 
who  has  sold  shoes  for  many  years.  Born  in  Hud- 
son, Mass.,  in  1841,  he  worked  in  shoe  stores  in 
Chicopee  Falls,  Hartford,  Springfield,  111.,  and 
finally  came  to  Boston  a  good  many  years  ago,  and 
was  connected  with  these  firms  at  different  times: 
Clark  &  Warren,  Warren  Boot  &  Shoe  Company, 
Lamkin  &  Foster,  Haynes  &  Sparrell,  Congress 
Shoe  and  Rubber  Company,  and  lastly  with  Lane 
Bros.  He  traveled  New  England  territory.  He 
is  now  living  quietly  at  his  home  in  Hyde  Park,  Bos- 
ton. 

CHARLES  R.  McWiLLiAMS 

Charlie  has  traveled  to  the  coast  for  Nettleton 
so  many  years  that  he  has  almost  forgotten  the  few 
lines  he  had  before  and  he  has  reason  to  for  he  has 
made  a  big  success.  Everybody  is  strong  for  "  Mac. " 

E.  L.  RITSON 

E.  L.  Ritson  has  been  " hitting  the  trail"  of 
shoe  selling  for  the  past  thirty-three  years,  having 

175 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

started  with  Tirrell   Church  in   1883.     He  is   with 
W.  L.  Douglas,  traveling  the  Pacific  coast  territory. 

FRED  S.  TODD 

We  remember  him  best  when  traveling  for  Har- 
ding &  Todd,  and  he  surely  sold  some  shoes  in  those 
days,  and  also  for  F.  S.  Todd  &  Co.  He  retired  and 
now  is  living  a  life  of  ease  on  his  farm  near  Rochester. 

GEORGE  T.  HIPFLE 

Well,  there  are  lots  of  good  things  to  be  said  of 
George,  and  if  I  had  space  I  would  say  them;  but 
we  all  know  him  and  he  has  traveled  so  long  from 
Cincinnati  that  he  doesn't  know  that  shoes  are 
made  in  any  other  city. 

C.  J.  BROOKS 

Every  buyer  and  I  guess  every  one  else  on  the 
Pacific  coast  knows  Charlie,  but  perhaps  may  not 
recognize  this  young  fellow,  for  it  is  a  long  time 
since  he  was  of  Brooks  &  Wells,  but  of  late  years 
he  is  well  known,  selling  F.  M.  Hoyt  &  Co.  and 
A.  Fisher  &  Son  shoes.  He  has  no  seasons  of  making 
his  trips,  for  they  say  that  he  starts  so  late  that 
he  meets  himself  coming  back.  Some  day  he  will 
get  his  well-earned  rest  on  that  farm  of  his,  up  in 
Oregon  somewhere.  Brother  of  Arthur  L.  Brooks. 

176 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING    SALESMEN 
CHARLES  H.  FOSTER 

Mr.  Foster  began  his  shoe  selling  as  a  jobber  of 
men's  shoes  on  Lincoln  Street,  Boston,  and  then 
helped  to  form  the  firm  of  Howard  &  Foster.  He 
traveled  some  years  for  this  firm  and  was  beloved 
by  all,  for  his  was,  indeed,  a  noble  character  and  his 
death  two  years  ago  was  a  great  blow  to  all. 


C.  A.  INGALLS 

We  were  all  sorry  to  learn,  a  few  months  ago,  of 
the  death  of  Charlie  Ingalls,  one  of  the  veterans  of 
the  road.  He  traveled  the  coast  territory  many 
years  for  Edwin  Clapp,  and  was  known  and  liked 
by  all. 


E.  T.  WRIGHT 

We  are  glad  to  include  "Pop"  Wright  in  this 
honorable  list  of  veteran  knights  of  the  shoe-grip. 
While  he  is  famous  for  making  "Just  Wright"  shoes, 
he  has  sold  his  share  thereof.  One  of  the  deservedly 
esteemed  and  highly  regarded  men  of  the  trade. 
May  "Pop"  flourish  for  a  thousand  years,  say  we. 

177 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XXV 

W.  HENRY  DEAN 

Who  does  not  know  Henry  Dean  in  the  South? 
They  ought  to  know  him,  for  he  has  traveled  down 
there  long  enough.  First  with  Hathaway,  Soule 
&  Harrington,  and  now  with  his  own  line;  also  Hervey 
Guptill's  slippers.  There  is  no  need  of  giving  a 
history  of  his  past  life,  for  you  all  know  Henry  and 
like  him.  Leonard,  Shaw  &  Dean  is  his  firm's  name. 

T.  H.  CHAMBERLIN 

Tom  traveled  for  years  for  Hathaway,  Soule 
&  Harrington  and  opened  a  store  for  them  in  Chicago, 
being  in  the  retail  line  for  some  time.  For  several 
years  he  sold  Chicago  trade,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  two  years  ago,  he  was  selling  for  G.  Edwin 
Smith  of  Columbus.  All  his  old  friends  miss  him  these 
days,  for  he  was  a  good  fellow  and  the  soul  of  honor. 

FRANK  C.  KELLOG,  FRED  L.  SMITH,  A.  W.  GAGE 

These  three  young  fellows  happened  to  meet  in 
Detroit,  after  not  having  seen  each  other  for  years, 
and  this  picture  was  taken.  Kellogg  and  "Gagie" 
you  know  something  about.  Fred  Smith  was  one 
time  in  the  shoe  game,  but  later  drifted  into  news- 
paper business  at  Cincinnati,  where  he  is  at 
last  accounts. 

178 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

WILLIAM  M.  HURLEY 

Will  Hurley,  one  of  the  famous  Hurley  Brothers, 
still  keeps  up  his  end  selling  Hurley  shoes,  and  also 
inventing  shoemaking  improvements.  He  is  a  ver- 
satile man  —  executive,  superintendent,  foreman, 
operative,  yachtsman,  automobilist,  farmer  and  an 
artist  on  top  of  all  that.  Lives  in  Rockland.  Helped 
establish  Hurley  Shoe  Company  in  1893. 

W.  HARRY  DUDLEY 

I  wish  I  could  express  the  love  every  one  that 
knew  Harry  Dudley  had  for  him,  and  how  they  miss 
his  happy,  genial  presence.  He  came  from  an  old 
shoe  family  in  Newark,  N.  J.  We  remember  him 
first  with  Williams  &  Hoyt.  Bert  Atherton  and 
Harry  were  making  children's  shoes  for  a  short  time 
in  Lynn;  then  Harry  went  with  J.  Phelan  &  Sons.  We 
all  know  what  a  responsible  position  he  occupied 
with  Thomas  G.  Plant  Company,  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  he  is  for- 
gotten. 

H.  E.  DECATUR 

Here's  an  old-time  picture  of  H.  E.  Decatur, 
one  of  the  real  boys  of  the  road,  that  we  delight  to 
know  and  honor.  He  sells  shoes  —  lots  of  'em  — 
for  Whitman  &  Keith. 

179 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

J.  B.  McKEE 

J.  B.  sold  shoes  many  years  for  Thomson-Crooker, 
with  whom  he  was  when  he  died  two  years  ago, 
deeply  regretted  by  many  friends. 

XXVI 

H.  W.  CROOKER 

Harry  Crooker  began  the  shoe  business  as  a 
boy  with  Geo.  F.  Daniels  &  Co.,  and  as  a  young 
man  started  traveling  for  the  above  firm,  working 
into  an  interest  in  the  business.  Then  opened 
up  a  specialty  business  and  now  as  we  all  know  is 
doing  a  very  successful  business  as  The  Thomson- 
Crooker  Company.  Everybody  is  strong  for  Harry. 
This  picture  is  an  old  one,  sure  enough. 

ALLEN  V.  HOLBROOK 

Al.  began  selling  for  Hosmer  Codding,  Boston 
jobbers,  but  he  soon  graduated  from  selling  shoes  for 
$12  a  dozen,  to  $60  a  dozen!  quite  a  jump,  but  he 
got  there  with  Stetson's  shoes.  He  has  been  in- 
terested in  the  retail  shoe  business  in  Columbus  for 
several  years.  Now  he  is  interested  in  several  spe- 
cialty Stetson  stores.  Still  travels,  selling  fine  shoes 
and  is  very  active  in  the  National  Shoe  Travelers' 
Association  work. 

ISO 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

CHARLES  O.  QUIMBY 

Charley  has  sold  Bliss  &  Perry's  shoes  so  long 
in  the  South  and  West  that  there  is  no  need  of  going 
further  back  for  his  history.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
widely-known  traveling  men  in  the  country. 

J.  W.   ESTABROOK 

Jim  traveled  in  the  Northwest  many  years  ago, 
and  if  he  could  talk  he  would  tell  you  all  about  it. 
I  know  many  of  the  old  boys  and  dealers  will  be 
pleased  to  see  his  face  again.  We  don't  see  much 
of  him  in  late  years,  for  he  spends  most  of  his  time 
in  Worcester  at  his  G.  A.  R.  post,  telling  how  he 
fought,  bled  (but  not  died)  for  his  country.  He  is 
happy  in  his  good  old  age  and  we  are  glad  of  it. 

W.  A.  PATTERSON 

Began  I  believe  with  Batchelder  &  Lincoln  and 
of  late  years  has  traveled  for  L.  B.  Evans  and  has 
made  a  success.  "Pat"  is  one  of  the  live  "young- 
sters." 

WILLIAM  DORSCH,  JR. 

Every  one  knows  Billy  Dorsch  of  the  old  firm  of 
William  Dorsch  &  Sons,  the  line  made  famous  by 
the  "bull  dog"  shoe.  Billy  is  now  traveling  for 
Slater  &  Morrill  and  we  are  always  glad  to  see  him. 

181 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JOHN  M.  QUIN 

Once  upon  a  time  Utica  cut  a  big  figure  in  the 
shoe  business.  John  Quin  was  with  H.  J.  Holbrook 
&  Co.,  of  Utica,  from  1884  to  1889.  Traveled  for 
Daniel  Green  Felt  Shoe  Company  for  the  past 
seventeen  years.  Now  on  jobbing  end.  A  big- 
hearted,  able,  fine  man.  Brother  of  Frank  Quin. 


E.  L.  DESCHAMPS 

One  of  Harry  Crooker's  right  bowers.  Been  on 
the  road  for  thirty-three  years.  Picture  taken 
twenty  years  ago.  We  all  are  glad  to  count  E.  L. 
in  with  the  real  "boys." 


S.    A.    McOMBER 

Here's  one  of  the  genuinely  popular  shoe  men  - 
S.  A.  M.  represents  Utz  &  Dunn  in  New  York. 
Nuf  sed.  Has  helped  to  put  Rochester  on  the  shoe 
map  for  thirty  years.  Former  treasurer  of  National 
Shoe  Travelers'  Association.  Needless  for  us  to 
add  our  mite  to  the  good  will  that  everybody  ex- 
presses for  this  gentleman. 

182 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XXVII 

B.  K.  FARNHAM 

I  don't  know  how  Ben  got  in  this  old  class,  for 
he  is  only  a  kid.  It  was  only  yesterday  he  started 
selling  for  C.  H.  Alden;  but  he  has  seen  considerable 
of  this  country  since,  and  must  be  glad  to  settle 
down  in  New  York  with  less  traveling  to  do. 
Nephew  of  Harry  Crooker. 

GEORGE  H.  FERGUSON 

George  began  his  traveling  in  the  West  for  the 
old  firm  of  Eddy  &  Webster  of  Rochester;  was  sev- 
eral years  with  Krippendorf-Dittman,  and  now 
has  a  New  York  office  for  Julian  &  Kokenge.  If 
he  was  a  little  younger  he  might  be  in  the  trenches 
with  the  Canadian  troops,  but  I  guess  he  prefers 
digging  potatoes  on  his  farm,  near  Batavia,  N.  Y. 

C.  A.  SHAW 

Here  is  another  former  Stetson  salesman  and 
you  will  remember  him  by  the  name  of  " Chicken" 
Shaw  but  he  is  no  chicken  now. 

WALTER  I.  PERRY 

His  first  road  job  was  with  the  Newburyport 
Shoe  Company;  then  he  helped  to  found  the  firm 
of  N.  D.  Dodge  &  Bliss  Company,  which  was  suc- 

133 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

ceeded  by  Bliss  &  Perry  Company.  Walter  when 
not  selling  shoes  may  be  found  on  his  beautiful  farm 
raising  apples,  as  his  friends  know.  One  of  the 
most  popular  men  in  the  trade. 

JAKE  SMITH 

Jake  Smith  traveled  for  J.  P.  Smith  &  Co.  in 
the  West  and  was,  and  is,  a  jolly  good  fellow.  I 
don't  hear  of  his  traveling  now,  but  he  is  still  on 
earth  and  glad  to  see  his  old  friends. 

FRED  EARL 

Fred  has  sold  fine  shoes  in  the  West  so  long 
that  he  can  surely  be  called  a  fine  shoe  salesman. 
His  big  record  was  made  with  McDonald  &  Kiley,  and 
Manss-Kiley. 

FRANK  HELMERS 

This  picture  of  Frank  Helmers  was  taken  about 
twenty  years  ago.  Frank  is  one  of  the  famous 
Cincinnati  shoe  men  and  is  head  of  the  Helmers- 
Bettmann  Shoe  Co.,  makers  of  men's  shoes. 

JOHN  S.  SNOW 

John  Snow  sold  Harry  Gray's  shoes  for  twenty- 
seven  years  and  was  a  fixture  with  that  house,  and 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  popular  men  on  the  road. 
His  death  in  New  York  City  three  years  ago  brought 
lasting  sorrow  to  us  all. 

184 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

CLARK  F.  BRESEE 

Another  man  long  associated  with  H.  H.  Gray's 
Son  was  Clark  F.  Bresee,  whose  death  last  year 
occasioned  widespread  regret  throughout  the  whole 
circle  of  his  extensive  acquaintance.  Popular  in  the 
best  sense  and  beloved  by  all,  Clark  Bresee  graced 
the  profession  of  shoe  salesmanship.  This  charac- 
teristic picture  shows  how  he  looked  many  years  ago. 

XXVIII 

HENRY  M.    CURRIER 

I  remember  him  first  as  with  W.  E.  Putnam  & 
Co.  of  Boston  and  traveling  in  the  South,  where 
he  continues  selling  his  own  line,  and  besides  he 
is  interested  in  several  retail  stores.  Headquarters, 
Albany  Building,  Boston. 

C.  H.  HENDERSON 

Charley  traveled  so  long  for  Burley  &  Usher 
and  Burley  &  Stevens  that  I  need  only  say  that 
every  one  on  his  territory  was  glad  to  see  him  each 
season  that  he  called  on  them  and  sorry  to  have  him 
quit,  but  he  had  other  plans  and  now  he  is  taking 
his  ease  on  his  Beverly  farm.  Note  the  whiskers. 

185 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

B.  FRANK  HALLETT 

B.  F.  for  many  years  traveled  in  the  South  for 
several  Cincinnati  factories  but  of  late  years  he 
changed  his  territory  to  the  West,  making  many 
sales  and  friends.  Now  we  find  him  back  in  his 
home  city,  Boston,  traveling  for  B.  E.  Cole  &  Co., 
not  looking  much  older  than  when  this  picture  was 
taken  years  ago. 

DAN  FULLER 

Our  old  friends  are  always  remembered,  and  we 
cannot  forget  that  noble  fellow,  Dan  Fuller,  who 
traveled  South  for  Charles  H.  Alden,  until  his 
sudden  death  several  years  ago. 

WILLIAM  JACKSON 

Every  one  on  the  coast  knew  Billy  and  loved  him. 
He  had  his  ups  and  downs,  but  made  a  success  of 
every  line  he  represented,  from  Johnston  &  Murphy 
to  The  Carlisle  Shoe  Company,  the  line  he  had  when 
he  died  a  short  time  ago. 

W.  J.  PARKER 

Like  many  other  salesmen  Billy  began  selling 
for  a  shoe  jobbing  house;  then  with  French,  Shriner 
&  Urner.  The  young  firm  of  Parker  &  LeFaver 
was  formed  but  died  in  its  infancy;  then  he  traveled 
for  Jerry  Menihan. 

186 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

T.  A.  DELANY 

Tom  is  some  orator,  but  his  speech  making  is 
mostly  confined  now  in  telling  the  fine  points  of 
T.  D.  Barry's  shoes.  I  believe  he  tried  for  a  short 
season  to  sell  shoes  to  Indians  and  Mexicans,  but  he 
wants  to  forget  it. 

GEORGE  RUSSELL  AND  J.  A.  LAWRENCE 

This  interesting  picture  of  two  old  pals, 
George  Russell  and  Jim  Lawrence,  taken  in  the 
long  ago.  More  detailed  mention  is  made  of  each 
of  these  well-known  shoe  men  elsewhere  in  this  book. 

ED.  W.  HUGHES 

Ed.  has  been  traveling  thirty-five  years  or  more 
• — five  years  with  Hugh  McKenzie,  of  Cincinnati, 
five  years  with  J.  W.  Brigham  &  Co.,  of  Boston, 
and  twenty-six  years  with  his  present  house, 
Helmers,  Bettmann  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati  —  surely 
a  long  and  honorable  record. 

XXIX 

WILLIAM  L.  RATCLIFFE 

As  this  book  is  preparing  for  the  press  we  learn 
with  great  sadness  of  the  death  of  Will  RatclifTe. 

187 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

A  great  figure  of  a  man  in  mind,  body,  heart  and 
soul.  A  doer  of  big  things,  yet  not  despising  the 
lesser  things  of  life.  He  has  written  his  name  large 
in  the  history  of  this  trade.  He  was  Thomas  G. 
Plant's  first  salesman.  He  rose  from  a  shoe  clerk 
in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  to  the  presidency  of  the  Thomas 
G.  Plant  Company.  Now  he  rests  in  peace  and 
awaits  us  for  the  final  home-coming  on  our  brief 
earthly  trip.  His  memory  shall  endure,  green  and 
fine. 

W.  W.  BOHR 

Will  Bohr  has  been  selling  John  Cramer  shoes 
for  many  years  and  is  a  big  salesman.  A  brother 
of  the  late  well-known  N.  C.  Bohr.  Has  the  confi- 
dence and  esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 

JOHN  S.  DAVIES 

John  Davies,  step  forth  and  receive  the  laurel 
wreath  of  honor  —  forty-six  years,  ninety-two  trips 
to  the  coast  for  C.  P.  Ford  &  Co.,  of  Rochester!! 
A  record  of  great  distinction,  and  we  are  proud 
with  you.  May  you  make  one  hundred  more  such 
trips. 

FRED  BAKER 

He  has  been  out  of  shoes  for  years  but  will 
be  well  remembered  as  with  Hanan  &  Son, 

188 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

traveling  from  Denver  to  the  coast.  He  died  a 
couple  of  years  ago,  but  his  memory  will  always  be 
with  us. 

GEORGE    A.    MITCHELL 

This  is  another  member  of  the  firm  of  Laird, 
Schober  &  Mitchell  and  in  the  old  days  was  a  strong 
member,  for  he  sold  a  lot  of  shoes  in  the  middle  West 
and  will  be  well  remembered  by  many.  What  a 
happy  fellow  he  was.  Gone,  but  held  in  happy 
memory. 

HERBERT  P.  GLEASON 

Known  to  his  familiars  as  "Pop"  Gleason,  and 
to  everybody  as  the  president  of  Johnston  &  Mur- 
phy, the  famous  Newark  men's  fine  shoemakers. 
Has  sold  J.  &  M.  shoes  for  a  good  many  years  and 
we  all  expect  him  to  be  doing  the  same  thing  for 
a  half  century  longer,  at  least. 

ARTHUR  EARL 

Arthur  can't  quite  forget  that  he  was  once  a 
retail  clerk  in  Springfield,  but  I  remember.  Well, 
he  has  been  so  long  with  Laird,  Schober  &  Co.  that 
there  is  no  other  line  in  this  country  to  him.  May 
he  contiuue  for  many  years. 

189 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

JAMES  MUSSON 

Jim  knew  no  other  line  than  John  Cramer's 
children's  shoes  and  that  was  his  only  line  for  about 
forty  years.  Every  one  knows  how  he  was  beloved 
by  the  trade  and  are  sad,  thinking  of  his  death  only 
last  November.  His  son  succeeds  him,  making  the 
third  generation  to  sell  John  Cramer  shoes. 

J.  A.  C.  EMERSON 

Jack  was  of  the  trio  made  up  of  himself,  Hank 
Goller  and  Frank  Land.  Was  several  years  with 
John  H.  Cross.  Now  we  find  him  selling  for  Wise 
&  Cooper  and  making  a  success  as  usual.  Picture 
taken  when  Jack  was  some  boy. 

XXX 

R.  T.  ROLLINS 

"Dick"  has  been  so  long  with  Hoag  &  Walden 
that  he  believes  it  is  the  only  line  on  earth;  but  this 
season  he  has  got  into  the  five-dollar  class.  Dick 
is  past  president  of  the  Southern  Shoe  Salesmen's 
Association,  and  every  inch  a  real  man. 

J.  L.  WILLET 

Jack  was  for  years  with  Utz  &  Dunn,  Rochester, 
placing  that  line  in  large  and  small  cities  in  the  mid- 
190 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

die  West.  He  retired  some  years  ago  and  opened 
a  cigar  store  in  his  home  town  of  Flint,  Mich.,  where 
he  died  a  few  years  ago,  regretted  by  all. 

BEN  STOUT 

Ben  Stout  is  one  of  the  popular  Rochester  boys, 
and  helped  to  put  the  "stir"  in  Rochester.  Ben 
has  been  on  the  road  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and 
can  trot  a  fast  heat  with  any  of  them. 

G.  E.  FRAZEE 

Gentlemen,  G.  E.  Frazee  of  Rochester.  We  are 
glad  to  include  this  sterling  salesman  with  the  men 
who  have  done  so  much  to  put  Rochester  shoes  where 
they  are. 

G.  W.  HERR 

This  is  Herr  and  it's  a  "he. "  G.  W.  traveled  for 
Williams,  Hoyt  &  Co.,  for  many  years,  having  begun 
forty  years  ago.  Wish  we  had  a  better  picture  of 
brother  Herr,  but  are  we  glad  to  have  even  this. 

J.  H.  KINNE 

Drop  into  C.  P.  Ford 's  factory  any  day  between 
seasons  and  you  '11  find  one  of  the  best  men  you  ever 
met  in  your  life  —  John  Kinne — right  on  the  job. 
John  has  been  a  fixture  with  Ford  shoes  for,  lo,  these 
many  years,  and  I  hope  he'll  be  there  very  many 
more. 

191 


SKETCHES   OF   TRAVELING   SALESMEN 
J.    E.    SCHOFIELD 

Here's  another  Rochesterite  —  J.  E.  Schofield. 
He  began  with  Diamond  &  Disbrow,  of  Utica. 
Has  sold  shoes  for  Williams  &  Hoyt  for  twenty-three 
years.  On  the  road  forty  years  all  told.  Welcome 
to  the  upper  row,  J.  E. 

A.  C.  EDSON 

Another  Williams,  Hoyt  &  Co.,  veteran  salesman 
—  A.  C.  Edson.  On  road  for  them  twenty-two 
years.  Now  with  Joy,  Clark  &  Nier.  Picture 
made  in  1903. 

F.  H.  Foss 

Here  is  a  well-known  figure  —  F.  H.  Foss.  F.  H. 
thought  he'd  quit  selling  men's  shoes  a  year  or  so  ago, 
but  the  lure  of  the  old  game  got  him  and  he's  now 
with  Foss-Packard.  He  used  to  be  with  Kelly- 
Buckley  and  T.  D.  Barry.  This  picture  was  taken 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

WALLACE  D.  BAKER 

W.  D.  is  a  brother  of  J.  Ralph  and  a  son  of  M.  F. 
Baker  —  three  of  a  kind.  Well-known  Preston  B. 
Keith  salesman.  Began  selling  on  the  road  for 
his  father,  then  at  Stoneham,  in  1894.  Then  he 
(W.  D.)  was  but  sixteen  years  old.  One  of  the 
young  veterans,  you  see. 

192 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

XXXI 

F.  M.  MONTGOMERY 

February  1,  1916,  marked  the  completion  of 
thirty-nine  years  of  F.  M.  Montgomery's  service 
with  the  Selby  Shoe  Company.  Brother  Mont- 
gomery, you  are  hereby  awarded  the  honorary  medal 
of  Distinguished  Service.  Picture  taken  in  1888. 
He  began  road  work  for  Irving  Drew  (now  Selby) 
in  1877  and  F.  M.  can  look  back  over  these  thirty- 
nine  consecutive  years  of  selling,  through  discourage- 
ment and  hard  work  and  on  to  success,  and  now,  at 
sixty,  is  in  his  very  prime.  And  may  he  long  con- 
tinue so. 

JAMES  H.  MULLIGAN 

"Jim"  Mulligan,  one  of  the  popular  royal  rooters 
for  Rochester,  has  traveled  the  middle  West  for 
John  Kelly,  Inc.,  thirty-five  years.  This  picture 
shows  Jim  with  a  mustache  which,  I  believe,  time 
has  brushed  away. 

J.  P.  BYRNE 

This  young  and  sprightly  soul  has  also  been 
peddling  John  Kelly  shoes  for  thirty-five  years.  He 
can  tell  a  story,  sing  a  song,  or  crack  a  joke  as  well 
as  he  can  sell  a  bill  of  shoes,  which  is  Al.  Popularity 
is  J.  P.'s  middle  name. 

193 


SKETCHES    OF    TRAVELING   SALESMEN 

CHARLES  J.  VEGIARD 

Take  a  look  at  this  picture  of  Charlie  "Veegyard" 
and  tell  me,  honestly,  if  you  believe  he  has  been 
selling  shoes  for  forty  years.  Fact.  Now  with 
Blum  Shoe  Mfg.  Co.,  and  can  travel  with  the  best 
of  'em. 

SANDY  C.  GLOUD 

Thirty-four  years  constitute  Sandy's  road  ex- 
perience. Was  with  Utz  &  Dunn  several  years. 
Now  with  Leach  Shoe  Company.  One  of  Rochester's 
best. 

"Bos"  PARSONS 

"Bob"  Parsons  died  two  years  ago,  deeply 
mourned  by  his  many  friends  in  the  shoe  traveling 
fraternity.  Best  known  through  his  connection 
with  Dugan  &  Hudson  of  Rochester. 

C.  E.  MEADE 

C.  E.  Meade  is  now  a  prominent  Rochester 
shoe  manufacturer,  but  forty  years  ago  he  sold 
shoes  on  the  road  for  Williams  &  Hoyt. 

HENRY  McGouGHRAN 

For  several  centuries  Henry  has  been  selling 
D.  Armstrong  shoes  and  has  certainly  sold  a  raft 
of  them.  He  is  one  of  the  big  men  of  the  road,  and 

194 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

a  whole-souled  gentleman.     One  of  the  reasons  for 
Rochester's  place  in  the  shoe  sun. 

JOHN  G.  TOWNSEND 

Everybody  down  South  knew  John  Townsend, 
who  traveled  that  section  for  Williams  &  Hoyt  of 
Rochester  for  years.  He  has  joined  the  "great 
majority''  and  leaves  a  splendid  memory. 

XXXII 

ELMER  J.  BLISS 

When  a  New  York  Central  passenger  train  got 
into  a  wreck  some  twenty-six  or  seven  years  ago, 
and  Elmer  J.  Bliss  was  dug  out  of  the  scrambled 
wreckage  of  the  Smoking  car,  with  his  scalp  full  of 
broken  glass,  his  career  as  a  traveling  shoe  salesman 
really  started  right  there.  For,  after  he  had  re- 
covered, he  collected  some  real  money  from  the  rail- 
road and  engaged  in  the  selling  of  shoe  jobs  on  the 
road.  Then  he  formed  the  Regal  Shoe  Company, 
of  which  he  is  president  and  live-wire  general  mana- 
ger. 

GEORGE  M.  RUSSELL 

We  are  glad  to  see  our  old  friend  George's  face 
again,  for  he  has  been  lost  to  the  shoe  trade 
several  years,  but  we  remember  him  with  Hazen 

195 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

B.  Goodrich,  then  manager  for  J.  A.  Lawrence,  jobber, 
in  Chicago.  He  traveled  a  few  years  for  Val  Dut- 
tenhofer  &  Sons,  but  is  now  out  of  shoes  and  lives 
in  California. 

DAVID  S.  CHILDS 

Dave  traveled  for  A.  E.  Nettleton  in  the  South 
for  many  years,  but  like  many  other  young  men, 
the  call  of  the  West  got  him,  and  of  late  years  he 
had  made  many  friends  from  Denver  to  the  coast, 
selling  Johnston  &  Murphy,  and  now  Slater-Morrill 
shoes.  Dave  lives  in  Flint,  Mich. 

W.  F.  EBBETT 

"Ted"  has  not  grown  any  since  he  went  to  work 
for  Parker,  Holmes  &  Co.  as  a  kid,  but  he  grew  in 
experience,  so  they  put  him  on  the  road  in  New  Eng- 
land. Then  was  with  Packard  &  Field  until  Hazen 
B.  Goodrich  &  Co.  discovered  him.  He  remained 
with  that  firm  many  years  until  Cincinnati  tempted 
him,  but  he  could  not  forget  New  England  and 
turned  shoes,  so  Chas.  E.  Wilson  captured  him. 
Ted  has  recently  become  a  partner  in  the  George  C. 
How  Company,  Haverhill,  and  we  wish  him  all  luck. 

H.  L.  GABELL  AND  W.  F.  GABELL 
H.  L.  Gabell  and  his  brother,  W.  F.  Gabell,  are 
members  of  the  firm  of  Reynolds,  Drake  &  Gabell, 

196 


SKETCHESOF   TRAVELING   SALESMEN 

and  sell  their  share  of  the  output.  We  see  both  of 
the  Gabells  at  183  Essex  Street,  almost  daily,  be- 
tween seasons,  and  are  glad  to  note  the  success  of 
these  veteran  shoe  salesmen. 

JAMES  L.  ESTEY 

We  cannot  call  Jim  one  of  the  old  boys;  still 
he  has  made  quite  a  record  with  Tuttle  &  Smith, 
T.  D.  Barry  Co.,  and  is  now  with  N.  B.  Thayer  &  Son, 
selling  shoes  down  Texas  way. 

JOHN  M.  FRENCH 

John  French  is  one  of  the  most  famous  and 
respected  traveling  shoe  salesmen  in  the  country. 
Went  with  Huiskamp  Bros.,  Keokuk,  in  1872,  and 
traveled  until  1905,  when  he  retired.  This  picture 
is  an  old  one,  sure  enough.  He  was  Member  No.  1 
of  the  I.  S.  T.  M.  A.,  which  now  has  50,000  members. 
Mr.  French  is  enjoying  a  retired  life  at  his  home  in 
Keokuk. 

R.    W.    FlTZPATRICK 

"Bob"  used  to  be  a  good  salesman  to  the  retail 
trade  years  ago,  when  he  looked  like  this  picture, 
but  he  graduated  to  wholesale  and  now  knows  no 
other  line  but  Jonathan  Brown.  We  all  know  he 
surely  sells  some  children's  shoes. 

197 


SKETCHES   OF   TRAVELING   SALESMEN 

H.  A.   ANDERSON 

Here  we  have  another  "Andy"  for  "Herm" 
and  "Wills"  Anderson;  both  sold  men's  shoes  in 
the  good  old  days.  Now  we  have  Herm  selling  for 
Thomson-Crooker  Company  in  all  the  large  cities 
on  the  coast.  We  know  he  is  happy,  for  he  is  making 
a  big  success. 

XXXIII 

J.  WARREN  MURRAY 

Warren  Murray  is  well  known  as  the  head  of 
the  Murray  Shoe  Company  for  twenty  years.  Now 
with  Val  Duttenhofer.  Warren  sold  a  great  many 
fine  shoes  during  his  time.  A  square  man  whom 
we  all  wish  well. 

W.  S.  ROGERS 

As  these  lines  are  penned,  I  learn  of  the  death  of 
W.  S.  Rogers,  who  had  represented  Utz  &  Dunn  for 
a  good  many  years,  and  was  one  of  the  highly  re- 
garded older  salesmen  going  out  of  Rochester.  Thus 
Time  takes  his  steady  toll. 

LEE  F.  GOODMAN 

Lee  sells  rafts  of  "Just  Wright"  shoes  on  the 
coast  and  is  one  of  the  justly  popular  shoe  salesmen 
in  that  genial  territory.  Lee  is  young  in  years, 
comparatively,  but  old  in  experience  and  long  in 
ability. 

198 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

E.  F.  RICE 

This  photo  was  taken  about  thirty  years  ago, 
and  time  certainly  flies.  E.  F.  went  with  Utz  & 
Dunn  shortly  after  this  photo  was  added  to  the 
archives  of  shoe  trade  portraits,  so  he  must  rank  as 
a  genuine  Utz  &  Dunn  veteran,  having  been  with 
them  ever  since.  He  lives  in  Denver. 


ED.  A.  TOBEY 

Who  would  ever  believe  this  flossy  picture  to 
be  our  old  side-kick  Pittsburg  Ed.  Tobey?  None 
other,  just  the  same.  Who  would  ever  believe  Ed. 
traveled?  But  as  he  claims  he  did,  we  are  glad  to 
embalm  his  phiz  in  this  galaxy  of  greatness.  Ed.  is 
now  the  famous  buyer  for  Kauffman-Baer,  Pittsburg. 

JOHN  F.  WHEELER 

This  picture  of  J.  F.  was  taken  in  1890.  He  has 
been  on  the  road  for  forty-one  years,  having  seen 
road  service  with  such  houses  as  P.  Ware  &  Co., 
Lilly,  Young,  Pratt  &  Brackett,  Boston  &  Sandwich 
Shoe  Company,  Emerson  Shoe  Company,  T.  D. 
Barry  Company.  He  now  represents  the  Boston 
office  of  several  factories. 


199 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

J.  A.  RICHARDSON 

Every  one  knows  "Dick"  Richardson,  but  don't 
know  where  he  got  the  name  of  Dick.  The  shoe 
history  of  Dick  is  just  Commonwealth  Shoe  Company, 
and  if  they  went  out  of  business,  he  would  quit,  too. 
Well,  you  will  have  to  step  lively  to  get  ahead  of 
J.  A.  R.  Headquarters  in  Fifth  Avenue  Building, 
New  York  City. 

A.    F.    SlMONDS 

He  will  be  remembered  as  traveling  for  Woodman 
&  Howe  of  Haverhill,  and  he  could  sure  sell  the 
German  trade,  for  he  spoke  German  like  a  native. 
Perhaps  in  these  days  he  might  be  taken  for  a  Ger- 
man spy,  but  he  is  now  too  busy  selling  for  Lewis 
A.  Crossett  in  "York  State." 

CHARLES  S.  MURRAY 

Charlie  Murray,  the  sweet  singer  of  the  salesmen, 
has  gray  hair,  but  is,  nevertheless,  the  youngest  of 
the  three  Murrays.  Just  gets  into  the  twenty-year 
class.  Sold  Murray  shoes  down  South  for  years. 
Now  with  Hanan. 

XXXIV 

FRANK  J.  BRADLEY 

I  cannot  realize  that  Frank  Bradley  was  once 
a  traveling  man;  still  he  was,  and  with  Hazen  B. 

200 


SKETCHES    OF   TRAVELING     SALESMEN 

Goodrich  with  whom  he  has  been  an  active  partner 
and  head  of  the  business  for  years,  and  one  of  the 
most  highly  esteemed  manufacturers  in  the  country. 
Picture  taken  many  years  ago. 


ED.  DONALDSON 

Ed  has  been  out  of  the  travelman  class  for  so 
many  years  that  he  almost  forgets  those  old  days 
when  he  traveled  for  W.  E.  Smertz,  Pittsburg, 
and  then  for  Williams  &  Hoyt;  but  he  left  us  cold, 
and  went  on  the  other  side  as  buyer  of  shoes.  He 
held  many  big  positions  as  buyer  of  shoe  departments 
in  Pittsburg,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  Rochester, 
Newark  and  Toledo;  but  now  he  has  settled  in  Bos- 
ton as  manager  and  buyer  of  one  of  the  large  jobbing 
houses  here. 

WILLIAM  GILLESPIE 

Sometime  called  Bill  and  there  is  a  reason,  for 
he  has  his  original  way  of  selling  shoes,  and  he  gets 
there  as  he  has  shown  in  selling  for  Wallace  Elliott, 
Charley  Case,  Forbush  &  Brown  and  at  present 
with  Alden,  Walker  &  Wilde.  All  are  glad  to  see 
him  when  he  arrives  in  town  and  if  you  can  get  him 
to  talk  you  are  liable  to  learn  something. 

201 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

A.  F.  JONES 

"Jack"  Jones,  that's  all  —  for  what  can  we  say 
more  than  he  has  been  so  long  with  T.  D.  Barry 
that  he  knows  no  other  line  —  and  all  buyers  and 
salesmen  know  Jack  and  his  line. 

JOHN  E.  LANGLEY 

Honest  John  did  not  begin  the  shoe  business  as 
a  traveling  shoe  salesman,  for  he  was  for  some  years 
a  manufacturer  of  children's  shoes  in  Detroit!  It 
was  at  the  same  time  Governor  Pingree  was  in  the 
shoe  business.  Field-Thayer,  P.  N.  Wadleigh  and 
Hervey  E.  Guptill  kept  John  busy  for  years,  but 
now  we  find  him  jobbing  shoes  for  himself  in  De- 
troit and  making  a  success  of  it. 

WILL  WEBSTER 

Will  Webster  was  well  known  as  being  of  the 
firm  of  Eddy  &  Webster,  but  of  late  years  with 
Krippendorf  &  Dittman,  traveling  out  West.  I 
hear  that  he  has  now  retired  and  having  a  well- 
earned  rest. 

A.  C.  CARPENTER 

Al  succeeded  the  late  Dan  Fuller  in  the  South 
for  C.  H.  Alden,  and  has  made  a  fine  success.  He 
hails  from  down  Florida  way  and  is  fond  of  spinning 

202 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

yarns  that  could  only  get  by  as  originating  in  Florida. 
Al  is  popular  with  all  the  boys.  You  can  find  him 
at  the  Alden  Boston  office,  105  Summer  Street,  any 
time  between  seasons.  His  real  name  is  Alfred. 

W.  L.  HAYNES 

Will  Haynes  has  traversed  Southern  territory 
twenty-five  years  and  is  well  known  as  Parker- 
Holmes7  representative,  and  a  man  whom  we  are 
glad  to  include  in  our  series  of  sketches  of  veteran 
shoe  salesmen. 

W.  H.  SHELBY 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  have  this  picture  of  W.  H. 
Shelby  in  our  collection.  Mr.  Shelby  represents 
Sutherland-Pedigo-Farwell  Shoe  Company,  of  St. 
Louis,  in  the  Southwest.  Has  been  on  the  road 
thirty-six  years,  starting  with  Claflin  Allen  Shoe  Com- 
pany in  1881.  Has  also  been  with  Shafer-Swarts 
&  Co.  and  Hamilton-Brown.  Was  vice-president 
of  Friedman-Shelby  Shoe  Company,  up  to  five 
years  ago.  Lives  in  Roswell,  N.  M. 

XXXV 

J.  E.  STEVENS 

I  believe  Jack  was  the  first  to  make  a  success 
of  a  Cincinnati  line  in  New  York  City,  for  he 

203 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

surely  did  sell  a  lot  of  Krippendorf  &  Dittman's 
shoes  in  that  city.  Previous  to  that  he  had  made  a 
success  with  Wright  &  Peters  line.  His  death  in 
New  York  several  years  ago  was  mourned  by  all 
his  many  friends. 

ALBERT  A.  MEAD 

We  hardly  think  of  Albert  as  an  old  timer  but 
he  has  made  a  record  for  a  few  years  and  has  helped 
to  make  Upham  Bros.  Company,  of  which  concern 
he  is  now  president. 

HORACE  W.  MURRAY 

Horace  is,  of  course,  known  as  of  Murray  Shoe 
Company,  and  you  may  be  sure  he  made  that  line 
known  in  the  West.  Since  the  firm  gave  up  business 
we  find  him  manufacturing  shoes  in  Haverhill. 


L.  H.  DOWNS 

Lurad  Downs  is  now  the  "high  gun"  at  the 
Charles  K.  Fox  factory,  but  has  done  his  share  as  a 
road  salesman.  We  see  him  in  Boston  frequently 
and  are  glad  to  know  of  his  fine  success. 

204 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

THOMAS  F.  BYRNES 

Thomas  F.  Byrnes,  as  everybody  knows,  travels 
for  the  Thomas  G.  Plant  Company,  and,  moreover, 
has  five  sons  who  do  likewise,  this  being  a  record  in 
itself.  Picture  taken  twenty  years  ago  and  cer- 
tainly T.  F.  has  changed  in  looks,  but  he's  the  same 
popular  "boy"  he  always  has  been.  A  real  veteran. 

C.  L.  ANDERSON 

Charley  only  knows  how  long  he  has  sold  Whit- 
man &  Keith's  shoes  in  New  England,  and  he  won't 
tell.  This  picture  shows  what  a  fine  looking  young 
man  he  is.  Sorry  we  haven't  a  boyhood  picture 
of  him. 

CAL  HERSOME 

Cal  Hersome  did  not  travel  long  selling  shoes 
for  Emerson  &  Sons  of  Wakefield,  but  he  made  his 
name  celebrated  by  the  patented  Hersome  Gaiter, 
which  was  a  decided  departure  from  the  regular 
shoe  style  of  those  days.  There  was  quite  a  sale 
for  this  shoe.  Mr.  Hersome  has  been  out  of  shoes 
for  some  time  and  is  enjoying  life  on  a  farm.  The 
family,  however,  is  still  represented  in  shoes,  for 
his  son  Jack  sells  for  Kelly-Buckley  and  is  a  good 
salesman,  but  I  don't  think  he  can  talk  as  fast  and 
long  as  his  dad. 

205 


SKETCHES   OF   TRAVELING    SALESMEN 

W.  H.  WARE 

Here  is  a  long-ago  picture  of  W.  H.  Ware  that 
his  many  friends  will  appreciate.  He  sure  was  some 
spruce  those  days  and  incidentally  knew  how  to 
land  the  good  orders. 

BARTLETT  SEARS 

Bartlett  Sears  is  one  of  the  veteran  Boston  sales- 
men. Began  with  Henry  Damon,  the  original 
C.  O.  D.  man,  and  after  service  with  various  houses 
(including  six  years  with  the  Erie  R.  R,)  he  landed 
with  the  Worcester  Slipper  Company,  jobbing  trade, 
with  whom  he  has  been  for  twenty  years.  The 
whiskers  have  disappeared. 

XXXVI 

T.  J.  YATES 

Tom  should  be  ashamed  of  himself  for  not 
having  a  better  picture  of  his  handsome  self.  Twenty- 
three  years  for  T.  J.  on  the  road.  Excelsior  first, 
then  Podan  Bros.,  and  Lewis  A.  Crossett,  and  for 
the  past  sixteen  years  he  has  been  with  Thomas  G. 
Plant  Company  in  the  Southwest.  Tom  is  a  great 
boy  and  is  from  Philadelphia  and  doesn't  care 
who  knows  it. 

206 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

J.  F.  HENRY 

Jack  Henry  tries  to  tell  us  that  he  hasn't  been 
selling  shoes  for  twenty  years,  but  Bob  Roberts 
says  he  sold  Mrs.  Methuselah  her  first  pair  of  boots, 
so  here  goes.  This  snapshot  shows  Jack  in  a  rem- 
iniscent mood,  shortly  after  returning  from  Ireland 
where  he  kissed  the  Blarney  Stone  twice.  We  all 
know  he's  with  Maetrich-Eyre.  Past  president 
New  York  Shoe  Salesmen's  Association.  "Same's 
B4,"  Jack. 

R.  L.  WALL 

Here's  R.  L.  Wall,  one  of  the  big  men  on  the 
Pacific  coast  where  he  sells  a  carload  or  so  of 
Sherwood  shoes  every  season.  Started  in  the 
shoe  business  in  Memphis,  with  Brown  Shoe  Com- 
pany, 1893.  Then  with  J.  W.  Jenkins  Company 
(now  the  Sherwood  Shoe  Company),  on  the  Coast 
where  he  has  been  ever  since. 


HARRY  B.  SCHWEITZER 

This  is  a  little  twenty-year  old  picture  of  Harry 
Schweitzer,  but  we  all  know  him  for  a  big-hearted 
fellow.  Harry  was  then  traveling  for  Schwab  Bros. 
He  has  been  with  T.  D.  Barry  for  many  years. 
Lives  in  Chicago. 

207 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

MAURICE  KORNSAND 

This  picture  of  Maurice  Kornsand  was  taken 
thirty-four  years  ago,  when  he  was  seventeen.  He 
has  been  on  the  road  for  thirty-three  years.  For 
several  years  he  was  with  Whitman  &  Keith,  in 
charge  of  the  New  York  office  and  territory  and  has 
been  with  T.  D.  Barry  for  several  years  in  the  same 
location.  Maurice  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
salesmen  in  the  New  York  territory. 

HERMAN  SCHOCKE 

Traveled  for  years  for  Charles  W.  Strohbeck  and 
now  with  Wichert  &  Gardiner.  I  guess  about 
every  city  in  the  South  has  welcomed  jolly,  good- 
natured  Herman  and  he  surely  has  sold  some  shoes. 

J.    T.    FlTZPATRICK 

John  has  traveled  so  long  in  New  England  and 
New  York  State  for  French,  Shriner  &  Urner  and 
J.  E.  French  that  if  he  should  go  west  of  Buffalo 
he  would  think  he  was  out  of  the  United  States. 
He  manages  to  sell  rafts  of  the  Knox  shoes.  Lives 
in  S  tough  ton. 

HARRY  GOLLER 

Here  is  a  playful  picture  of  Harry  Goller  taken  with 
his  friend  Fred  Wesner,  the  well-known  buyer  for  the 
Powers  Mercantile  Company  of  Minneapolis.  Harry 
is  a  brother  of  "Hank"  and  C.  F.  Goller  and  is  with 
Allen-Foster-Willet.  Traveled  twenty-two  years. 

208 


SKETCHES  OF  TRAVELING  SALESMEN 

WALTER  SCOTT 

Traveled  a  good  many  years  selling  misses' 
and  children's  shoes  with  Allen  &  Company,  Phila- 
delphia. He  is  interested  in  the  business,  and  we 
all  know  that  Walter  has  sold  a  great  many  shoes. 

RALPH  SAXE 

When  Ralph  passed  away  a  few  years  ago,  we  all 
mourned  the  loss  of  a  good  friend  and  fellow  trav- 
eler. He  traveled  South  for  several  years  and  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Southern  Shoe 
Salesmen's  Association.  In  this  old  tintype  picture 
are  also  Fred  Church,  Clendennin,  Jr.,  and  Billy 
Martin. 


209 


INDEX 

TO   PORTRAITS  AND   SKETCHES 

The  roman  numerals  after  each  name  indicate  the  plate  on  which  the  portrait 
appears;  the  plain  figures  denote  the  page  where  the  sketch  appears. 


HARRY  L.  ADAMS,  X, 
GEORGE  AHERNS,  VIII, 
WALTER  S.  ALDRIDGE,  I, 
C.  L.  ANDERSON,  XXXV, 
H.  A.  ANDERSON,  XXXII, 
WILSON  H.  ANDERSON,  XXIII, 
FRANK  ARMITAGE,  IV, 
A.  H.  ATHERTON, 


WINFIELD  S.  BACON,  XII, 
GEORGE  A.  BACKUS,  VII, 
AMOS  F.  BAILEY,  XXI, 
C.  E.  BAIRD,  XI, 
FRED  BAKER,  XXIX, 
J.  RALPH  BAKER,  XIII, 
WALLACE  D.  BAKER,  XXX, 
EUGENE  BALDWIN,  III, 
W.  H.  BALKAM,  XIX, 
FRANK  M.  BARKER,  XIII, 
HARRIS  M.  BARNES,  VI, 
C.  R.  BEACH,  XI, 
J.  J.  BEAHR,  XVI, 
J.  P.  BEATTY, 

ARTHUR  I.  BENEDICT,  XVIII, 
CLARE  A.  BENEDICT,  II, 
F.  D.  BLAKE, 
ELMER  J.  BLISS,  XXXII, 
W.  W.  BOHR,  XXIX, 
FRANK  J.  BRADLEY,  XXXIV, 
F.  H.  BRADSTREET,  V, 
CHARLES  BRANDMAN,  XVII, 
CLARK  F.  BRESEE,  XXVII, 
WILLIAM  G.  BRIDGED,  XVIII, 
FRED  C.  BRIEL,  XV, 
ARTHUR  L.  BROOKS,  XIII, 
CHARLES  J.  BROOKS,  XXIV, 


PAGE 
119 
114 

65 
205 
198 
168 

86 
169 

136 

93 
163 
133 
188 
138 
192 

81 
159 
139 

91 
132 
148 
169 
154 

68 
169 
195 
188 
200 

88 
151 
185 
152 
144 
137 
176 


CAPEN  BROWN,  XIV, 

J.  P.  BURNS,  XV, 

TILL  BUSH,  VI, 

J.  P.  BYRNE,  XXXI, 

THOMAS  F.  BYRNES,  XXXV, 


PAGE 
142 
145 
92 
193 
205 


W.  H.  CANNON,  VI,  92 

ALFRED  C.  CARPENTER,  XXXIV,  202 
A.  M.  CENTER.  XI,  130 

T.  H.  CHAMBERLIN,  XXV,  178 

A.  L.  CHASE,  XVII,  150 

GEORGE  T.  CHASE,  XII,  135 

DAVID  S.  CHILDS,  XXXII,  196 

FRED  C.  CHURCH,  XVIII,  XXXVI,  153 
BERNARD  H.  COGAN,  XVI,  146 

FRANK  M.  COLBURN,  III,         84,  169 
J.  HARRY  COLBURN,  VII, 
E.  M.  COLLINS,  V, 
GEORGE  W.  COOK,  VIII, 
SAMUEL  COOK,  XX, 

D.  M.  CORBIN,  XIX, 
JIM  Cox,  X, 

W.  E.  CRANDALL,  VI, 
WILLIAM  CRAWFORD,  VI, 
J.  FRANK  CREHAN,  XIX, 
J.  J.  CROMWELL,  VIII, 
HARRY  W.  CROCKER,  XXVI, 
L.  B.  CUBBISON,  XII, 
HENRY  M.  CURRIER,  XXVIII, 
JOHN  CURRY,  III, 

E.  H.  GUSHING,  XX, 


95 

89 

96 

161 

156 

129 

92 

93 

156 

96 

180 

136 

185 

84 

160 


E.  M.  DANIELS,  XII,  134 

JOHN  S.  DAVIES,  XXIX,  188 

C.  E.  DAVIS,  XVI,  147 

JOHN  DAVY,  XV.  143 


211 


INDEX 


W.  HENRY  DEAN,  XXV, 
H.  E.  DECATUR,  XXV, 
THOMAS  A.  DELANY,  XXVIII, 

E.  L.  DESCHAMPS,  XXVI, 

F.  T.  DEXTER,  XIII, 
HUGH  M.  DEYO,  XI, 
F.  J.  DOAN,  IX, 

H.  D.  DODGE,  XIII, 

EDW.  DONALDSON,  XXXIV, 

WILLIAM  DORSCH,  JR.,  XXVI, 

LURAD  H.  DOWNS,  XXXV, 

A.  W.  DUBOIS,  VI, 

W.  HARRY  DUDLEY,  XXV, 

WILLIAM  H.  DUNN,  XVIII, 

GEORGE  S.  DWINNELL,  V, 

HARRY  P.  DYER,  XV, 


ARTHUR  EARL,  XXIX, 
FRED  EARL,  XXVII, 
W.  F.  EBBETT,  XXXII, 
A.  C.  EDSON,  XXX, 
FRED  S.  ELWELL,  XX, 
J.  A.  C.  EMERSON,  XXIX, 
J.  W.  ESTABROOK,  XXVI, 
C.  A.  ESTES,  XVIII, 
JAMES  L.  ESTEY,  XXXII, 
E.  E.  EVARTS, 


BENJAMIN  K.  FARNHAM,  XXVII,  183 

GEORGE  H.  FERGUSON,  XXVII,  183 

F.  GARRETT  FISHER,  XVIII,  155 

OLIVER  M.  FISHER,  IX,  115 

J.  T.  FITZPATRICK,  XXXVI,  208 

R.  W.  FITZPATRICK,  XXXII,  197 

W.S.FLETCHER,  172 

JOHN  F.  FLINT,  XVII,  151 

F.  H.  Foss,  XXX,  192 
CHARLES  H.  FOSTER,  XXIV,  177 
W.  P.  FRANCIS,  XX,  160 

G.  E.  FRAZEE,  XXX,  191 
JOHN  M.  FRENCH,  XXXII,     172,  197 
M.  D.  FULLER,  XXVIII,  186 


H.  L.  GABELL,  XXXII, 
W.  F.  GABELL,  XXXII, 


PAGE  PAGE 

178  A.  M.  GAINES,  XIX,  157 

179  G.  TOWNES  GAINES,  XIX,  157 
187      A.  W.  GAGE,  II,  XXV,       62,  67,  178 
182      HUBERT  H.  GARDINER,  X,  120 
139      HENRY  S.  GARFIELD,  XXII,  165 
131       W.  E.  Gerrish,  XI,  130 
118      WILLIAM  GILLESPIE,  XXXIV,  201 
138      H.  P.  GLEASON,  XXIX,  189 
201       E.  E.  GLOMSTED,  XIII,  139 
181       S.  C.  GLOUD,  XXXI,  194 
204      HANK  GOLLER,  XXXVI,  174 

91  H.  H.  GOLLER,  XXIII,  208 

179  DAVID  R.  GOODIN,  XII,  136 

153  LEE  F.  GOODMAN,  XXXIII,  198 

88      AL  GOULD,  VII,  93 

143       HARRY  H.  GRAY,  X,  119 

J.  RUSH  GREEN,  XII,  134 

189  A.  L.  GREENWOOD,  XII,  135 
184      GEORGE  GREGORY,  XVII,  149 

196  WALLAC  ,  T.  GROW,  IX,  115 
192 

159      GEORGE  L.  HALE,  I,  65 

190  B.  FRANK  HALLETT,  XXVIII,  186 
181      HARRY  M.  HAMILTON,  XVII,  150 
153      JOHN  H.  HANAN,  VIII,  96 

197  T.  D.  HARLOW,  IV,  85 
169      H.  A.  HARRINGTON,  XXI,  165 

R.  E.  HARRISON,  VI,  91 

WALTER  HART,  IV,  84 

WILLIAM  L.  HAYNES,  XXXIV,  203 

FRANK  HELMERS,  XXVII,  184 

C.  H.  HENDERSON,  XXVIII,  185 

J.  F.  HENRY,  XXXVI,  207 

GEORGE  W.  HERR,  XXX,  191 

CAL  HERSOME,  XXXV,  205 

HERB.  HILL,  II,  68 

WICKLIFFE  A.  HILL,  VI,  90 

GEORGE  T.  HIPPLE,  XXIV,  176 

TIMOTHY  HOGAN,  V,  87 

A.  V.  HOLBROOK,  XXVI,  180 

BRYANT  T.  HUDSON,  XX,  159 

ED.  W.  HUGHES,  XXVIII,  187 

H.  W.  HUISKAMP,  172 

196      J.  C.  HUNT,  III,  83 

196      JOHN  H.  HUNT,  XXII.  166 


212 


INDEX 


PAGE 

W.  H.  HUNTING-TON,  XVII,  150 

AL.  KURD,  III,  83 

WILLIAM  M.  HURLEY,  XXV,  179 

E.  M.  HUTCHINSON,  I,  65 


:.  A.  INGALLS,  XXIV, 


177 


WILLIAM  JACKSON,  XXVIII,  186 

OSCAR  JACOBI,  XVIII,  152 

WILLARD  H.  JAMES,  XX,  161 

W.  H.  H.  JAMES,  XVII,  149 

ARTHUR  H.  JENKINS,  XV,  144 

THOMAS  E.  C.  JOHNSON,  XIV,  142 

TONY  E.  JOHNSON,  XXIII,  173 

A.  F.  (Jack)  JONES,  XXXIV,  202 

W.  H.  JUDSON,  172 

J.  J.  KALTENBRUN,  XIV,  141 
F.  C.  KELLOGG,  IX,  XXV,      116,  178 

E.  A.  KENDALL,  XXIV,  175 
W.  I.  KENDALL,  XIII,  137 
PHILIP  B.  KERRIGAN,  XVI,  146 
HARRY  KIDD,  XXII,  166 
WILLIAM  M.  KILEY,  II,  66 
JOSEPH  C.  KIMBALL,  XXIII,  173 
JOHN  H.  KINNE,  XXX,  191 
D.  E.  KITTREDGE,  XIX,  158 
J.  F.  KNOWLES,  XXI,  162 
MAURICE  KORNSAND,  XXXVI,  208 

JOHN  L.  LAIRD,  XIX,  157 

F.  H.  LAND,  XXIII,  168 
GEORGE  LANE,  III,  82 
J.  E.  LANGLEY,  XXXIV,  202 
HERBERT  N.  LAPE,  XIX,  158 
J.  A.  LAWRENCE,  II,  XXVIII,  67,  187 
HENRY  A.  LOOMIS,  II,  68 
GEORGE  J.  LOVELEY,  XV,  145 
CHARLES  F.  LUSCH,  V,  88 

JOHNG.  LUSCH,  VIII,  114 

HARRY  P.  LYNCH,  XIII,  137 

HECTOR  E.  LYNCH,  XXII,  165 


A.  S.  MACFARLANE,  169 

E.  H.  MATHEWSON,  XXI,  162 


PAGE 

H.  A.  MATHEWSON,  XXI,  162 

A.  E.  MATLESS,  172 

ED.  MAURER,  XXIII,  174 

JAMES  H.  MAYBURY,  VII,  94 

C.  A.  MCCARTHY,  XI,  132 

ORAN  McCoRMicK,  XXIII,  173 

J.  B.  McCuNE,  IX,  117 

CHRIS.  McDERMorr,  IV,  85 

JOHN  MCELANEY,  XXII,  166 

PETER  McGEOUGH,  XVI,  148 

HENRY  McGouGHRAN,  XXXI,  194 

J.  B.  McKEE,  XXV,  180 

C.  A.  MCLEAN,  XXI,  164 

W.  MCMULLEN,  XXI,  164 

S.  A.  MCOMBER,  XXVI,  182 
CHARLES  R.  McWiLLiAMS,  XXIV,  175 

ALBERT  A.  MEAD,  XXXV,  204 

HAMILTON  MEAD,  III,  84 

C.  E.  MEADE,  XXXI,  194 

E.  W.  MEARS,  III,  82 
RALPH  MEARS,  III,  82 
JOHN  M  MEGGETT,  XVIII,  153 
THOMAS  T.  MERRILL,  VI,  92 
T.  FRANK  METCALFE,  X,  130 
GEORGE  A.  MITCHELL,  XXIX,  189 

F.  M.  MONTGOMERY,  XXXI,  193 
S.  PRESTON  MOSES,  V,  89 
MATT  MULLEN,  II,  81 
JAMES  H.  MULLIGAN,  XXXI,  193 

M.  J.  MULRYAN,  172 

D.  B.  MUNROE,  V,  87 
CHARLES  S.  MURRAY,  XXXIII,  200 
HORACE  W.  MURRAY,  XXXV,  204 
J.  WARREN  MURRAY,  XXXIII,  198 
JAMES  MUSSON,  XXIX,  190 


CHARLES  W.  NEWHALL,  I, 
WILLIAM  NOLL,  III, 
JOHN  C.  NUGENT,  VII, 
W.  F.  NYE,  XVI, 


C.  F.  OAKLEY,  VII, 
W.  M.  OAKMAN,  IV, 

J.  E.  O'BRIEN,   XXI, 


64 

83 

95 

148 

93 

86 

163 


213 


INDEX 


PAGE 

B.  F.  PAGE,  IX,  117 
JOEL  C.  PAGE,  I,  63 
WILLIAM  J.  PARKER,  XXVIII,       186 
ROBERT  PARSONS,  XXXI,  194 
W.  A.  PATTERSON,  XXVI,  181 
WALTER  I.  PERRY,  XXVII,  183 

C.  I.  PETHERBRIDGE,  V,  90 
C.  S.  PIERCE,  XIX,  158 
E.  J.  PIERCE,  IX,  118 
WARREN  C.  PIERCE,  XV,  144 
HOWARD  PLATTS,  XVII,  149 
R.  J.  PRINCE,  I,  64 
S.  M.  PRITCHETT,  XX,  161 
H.  M.  PULKER,  VIII,  113 
L.T.  PYLES,  172 

CHARLES  O.  QUIMBY,  XXVI,  181 

FRANK  QUIN,  VIII,  113 

JOHN  M.  QUIN,  XXVI,  182 

A.  ERWIN  RANKIN,  VII,  94 
WILLIAM  L.  RATCLIFFE,  XXIX,     187 

L.  R.  RECORD,  XIV,  141 

THOMAS  REDDIE,  172 

N.  REDPATH,  IV,  87 

MARC  W.  REED,  XXI,  163 

E.  F.  RICE,  XXXIII,  199 

J.  A.  RICHARDSON,  XXXIII,  200 

HARRY  H.  RIPLEY,  V,  89,  172 

E.  L.  RITSON,  XXIV,  175 

P.  A.  RITTER,  XXI,  164 

C.  C.  ROBINSON,  X,  129 

W.  S.  ROGERS,  XXXIII,  198 

R.  T.  ROLLINS,  XXX,  190 
GEORGE   M.  RUSSELL,   XXVIII, 

XXXII,  187,  195 

JOHN  L.  SAGE,  VII,  95 

A.  W.  SARGENT,  I,  III,  63,  83 

E.  F.  SAWYER,  XIII,  137 

R.  J.  SAXE,  XXXVI,  209 

HERMAN  SCHOCKE,  XXXVI,  208 

J.  E.  SCHOFIELD,  XXX,  192 
HARRY  B.  SCHWEITZER,  XXXVI,  207 

WALTER  SCOTT,  XXXVI,  209 


BARTLETT  SEARS,  XXXV, 
C.  A.  SHAW,  XXVII, 
SAMUEL  SHAW,  XXII, 
W.  H.  SHELBY,  XXXIV, 
JAMES  D.  SHERIDAN,  IX, 
ED.  T.  SHIPP,  XVI, 
CHARLES  J.  SHRINER,  XXII, 

A.  F.  SIMONDS,  XXXIII, 
E.  W.  SKINNER,  XXII, 

C.  B.  SLATER,  II, 
T.  S.  SLACK,  I, 

E.  B.  SLOCUM,  XIV, 
CHARLES  H.  SMITH,  XX, 

F.  L.  SMITH,  XXV, 
JAKE  SMITH,  XXVII, 
J.  P.  SMITH,  X, 
CHARLES  F.  SNOW,  IV, 
JOHN  S.  SNOW,  XXVII, 
HERBERT  SOMERS,  VIII, 
J.  S.  SPAULDING,  XX, 
ROBERT  SPRUNT,  JR.,  IV, 

B.  A.  ST.  JOHN,  XVI, 
WILLIAM  J.  ST.  Louis,  XII, 
WILLIAM  H.  STACY,  X, 
FRED  W.  STANTON,  VII, 
GEORGE  L.  STARKS,  XII, 
ED.  STEBBINS,  IV, 

EZRA  H.  STETSON,  XI, 
J.  E.  STEVEN*,  XXXV, 
NATT  F.  STEVENS,  VIII, 
CHARLES  F.  STORY,  XXII, 
BEN  STOUT,  XXX, 
GEORGE  STRONG,  XIX, 
ROBERT  L.  SUMMERS,  XV, 

E.  A.  TERHUNE,  XVIII, 
E.  A.  TOBEY,  XXXIII, 

D.  J.  TOBIN,  XXIII, 
FRED  S.  TODD,  XXIV, 
JOHN  G.  TOWNSEND,  XXXI, 
J.  S.  TREADWELL,  XIV, 


F.  J.  VAN  SICKLE,  XIV, 
CHARLES  J.  VEGIARD,  XXXI, 


PAGE 
206 
183 
167 
203 
116 
146 
166 
200 
167 

66 

64 
140 
160 
178 
184 
120 

87 
184 
114 
161 

86 
148 
135 
118 

94 
134 

85 
131 
203 
113 
167 
191 
155 
143 

154 
199 
174 
176 
195 
139 

142 

194 


214 


CLARENCE  P.  WAIDE,  X, 

A.  C.  WALKER,  IX, 
R.  L.  WALL,  XXXVI, 
JAMES  A.  WALLACE,  II, 
JOHN  J.  WALSH,  XVIII, 
W.  H.  WARE,  XXXV, 

J.  A.  WARRENDER,  XVII, 
WILL  WEBSTER,  XXXIV, 
FRED  J.  WELDEN, 
BERTON  O.  WETMORE,  XVI, 

B.  F.  WETHERBY,  XI, 


INDEX 

PAGE  PAGE 

119  J.  F.  WHEELER,  XXXIII,  199 

117  GEORGE  H.  WHITE,  XIV,  140 

207  GEORGE  H.  WILKINS,  XIII,  138 

81  J.  L.  WILLETT,  XXX,  190 

155  C.  A.  WILLETTS,  XXIII,  168 

206  DAVID  WILLIAMS,  I,  66 

151  E.  S.  WlLLMARTH,  XI,  131 

202  E.  T.  WRIGHT,  XXIV,  177 

172  

147  THOMAS  J.  YATES,  XXXVI,  206 

132  W.  T.  YORK,  XIV,  141 


215 


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o'fiSWJ 


MAY  2  2  1985 


RETCD  CD 

FE32    L 


JAN  041988 

JAN  1  b  1988 
SEP  3  01988 


1NTER-LIBRAR] 
LOAM 

DEC  17  1969 
EP  22  1971 


DLD     SEP  14    L-9AM  76 


LD  21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


60007=135141, 


M86261 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


